When harnessing the unique attributes of nanomaterials to enhance your product is the goal, you need exactly the right material — thoughtfully designed for both performance and ease of integration into your product.
Everything else has been precisely engineered for your product … shouldn’t your nanomaterial be?
Just as your products are precisely engineered and fit for purpose – your nanomaterial must be too. Controlling nanoparticle size and other technical attributes is our specialty and can have a measurable impact on performance at the nano-scale.
Precision Control of Technical Attributes
Cerion is known for the degree of customization and flexibility in its nanomaterial design processes for metal, metal oxide and ceramic nanoparticles. We take atoms and individual molecules, binding them together through precisely controlled chemical reactions, a process that enables us to build each nanoparticle from the ground-up. This has enabled our scientists to produce some of the smallest (down to 2 nm), monodispersed and non-agglomerated nanoparticles in the industry. Cerion has demonstrated precision control and customization over a wide variety of nanoparticle attributes including, but not limited to:
- ✓ Particle Size
- ✓ Particle Size Distribution
- ✓ Morphology
- ✓ Surface Charge
- ✓ Purity
In addition, we specialize in complex nanoparticle design requirements, such as:
- ✓ Surface functionalization to attach chemical constituents to the surface of the nanoparticle
- ✓ Alloyed nanoparticles of two or more elements with the ability to tightly control elemental ratios
- ✓ Doping one or more elements onto the surface of a particle with the ability to tightly control elemental ratios
- ✓ Core-shell nanoparticles containing an inner core structure with an outer shell made of different elements
Synthetic Pathways
Our approach to nanoparticle synthesis is customer-driven and uniquely differentiated within the industry. Most companies are proficient working with one synthesis method to make nanomaterials, forcing their customers to consider using materials that do not meet technical or cost targets.
Our core philosophy of ‘one size does not fit all’ has resulted in a unique set of synthesis capabilities. Cerion has expertise in a variety of synthesis methods to customize nanoparticles to meet each customer’s critical technical requirements and cost parameters. To learn more about our capabilities, visit our materials page.
Nanomaterial Formats
We recognize that our customer’s needs are unique, and importantly, the ways they incorporate nanomaterials into their products are varied. We support our customers by providing the material format that is most compatible with their product manufacturing process. These formats include:
- ✓ Aqueous and nonaqueous dispersions
- ✓ Polymer-based dispersions
- ✓ Proprietary customer dispersions
- ✓ Powders
- ✓ Pastes
- ✓ Re-dispersible “wet-cakes”
Successful Integration
There are numerous technical and process related issues you must consider when integrating a nanomaterial into your product. This is especially the case when working with dispersions. How will the dispersion be used? What conditions will the dispersion or nanoparticle experience in your upstream manufacturing process that could alter its technical specifications? What other product components will the nanoparticle come in contact with during the manufacturing process? All of these, and more, can impact the particle’s performance or cause product integration challenges.
For over a decade we’ve been creating and manufacturing aqueous and organic dispersions for our customers. We work with you from the very beginning to understand your product, manufacturing conditions and desired end-state of the nanoparticle. Our goal is always to design a solution that is compatible with your product and process, allowing you to seamlessly integrate the nanomaterial and preserve its performance.
Core to your successful integration is our wide degree of freedom over dispersion design, including but not limited to:
- ✓ Ability to supply nanoparticles across a wide pH range in aqueous dispersions
- ✓ Significant experience working with over 40+ solvent systems for organic dispersions
- ✓ Routine incorporation of nanoparticles into proprietary customer materials such as resins, oils and polymers
- ✓ Wide degree of control over nanoparticle concentration in the dispersion
- ✓ Extensive library of organic and polymer capping agents designed for particle stability and compatibility in a customer’s product or system
- ✓ Methods to control the purity of the dispersion
While the instances above highlight the complexity and considerations required for integrating dispersion-based nanomaterials, similar factors must be evaluated when working with other nanomaterial formats, such as pastes, powders, and wet-cakes. Contact us to talk to one of our experts about your specific product needs.