Our Process

Discovery

Our in-house teams of researchers, analytical chemists and engineers have decades of experience working with an expansive list of metal, metal oxide and ceramic nanomaterials , allowing our customers to rely on us no matter how much nanomaterial expertise they have coming into our partnership.

If you are looking for commercially available sample options, we recommend checking out catalog providers like Alfa Aesar or Sigma Aldrich . At Cerion, we optimize and design custom nanomaterials for each client we work with and do not provide commercially available, off-the-shelf samples.  All candidate materials that come out of our labs are confidential to the customer and the specific project/product they were designed for. 

During discovery, we will meet with the client to discuss initial details about the project and product goals. Our clients typically have been down a path of testing commercially available options and are interesting in optimizing a material to meet their specific project requirements.  These conversations typically include: material(s) of interest, desired specifications such as form, composition, particle size, along with price and volume targets for the material so that we can assess if our services are a good fit to meet their goals.

If during discovery we believe that there is a viable path forward, we move forward with an NDA and toward a more in-depth discussion between Cerion’s technical team and the client’s technical team about critical specifications or learnings they may have, with a goal of generating a scope of work and estimate for the project.

Scoping the Project

We understand that Nanomaterials require a commercialization process unto their own that, when thoughtfully executed, works in harmony with the client’s internal product development systems & processes. 

The majority of our clients come to us with a clear budget in mind, often shaped by their prior attempts or knowledge of the significant expenses associated with maintaining the necessary expertise and equipment for in-house development, as opposed to the potential cost (and speed to market) benefits of outsourcing their projects.

Expectation setting after the initial technical assessment and during this scoping phase is essential. Because every project is customized to the client’s product, process and technical requirements, phase durations and budgets can vary greatly — that means it’s often difficult to provide any ranges prior to an in-depth technical discussion during scoping of the project.  Once a successful formula is developed (utilizing specific processes, synthetic routes, etc) the go forward approach (scale-up and commercialization viability) and costs (budgets long term) can be better determined, hence our phased approach to development.

Watch this brief video to learn about how we worked with a display customer to optimize nanomaterials for their product, presented by our Executive Vice President of Research and Development, Dr. David Sandford

Development

From start to finish, we work to meet your needs as a direct extension of your team. Our project kickoffs are a collaborative effort, bringing together the expertise of our team of research and development scientists, analytical chemists, and manufacturing engineers. Leveraging a unique, in-house design for manufacturing (DFM) process, we engage the full spectrum of our specialized in-house team from the outset. This strategy is critical for fostering optimal outcomes throughout the project lifecycle.

Our preparations for scale-up start while we are designing your nanomaterial in the lab. Our approach leverages DFM best practices including a set of strategies, methodologies and tools to ensure that nanomaterials made in the lab today will seamlessly and cost-effectively transition to our manufacturing environment tomorrow.

Go/no-go decision making

During each phase of the process, our clients can expect constant communication including bi-weekly calls and monthly status reports, as well as candidate materials for testing based on scope timelines, along with complete analytical characterization and reporting. This approach allows our clients to move forward into the next phase of the program when and if it is successful. We employ a ‘fail fast’ approach to development so that our clients can quickly make decisions about the project’s viability and move forward with other options if it is unsuccessful. Learn more.

Phase I

During the first phase of the project, candidate material is developed based on the customer inputs during the scoping process. Our goal is to help establish proof of concept as quickly as possible. Working as an extension of your team, our seasoned scientists and in-house analytical department, allow us to provide detailed data quickly and effectively to ensure your project stays on time and on budget.

Phase II

Phase II of the project occurs once the material formula has been accepted and the and the proof of concept has been established by the client in their product or system. At this point the material is scaled from benchtop to pilot production, and the path toward manufacturing starts to take shape including; process to manufacture, volume projections, price targets. Our team will take the lead on providing a cost simulation for the client for various volume scenarios looking forward to understand the economies of scale and potential outcomes.

Phase III

Scale-up from pilot to full scale production is the final phase of the formal project. Our team of engineers has been working side by side with the development team during the entire project to ensure that the initial formula can scale to commercialization volumes and maintain all of the desired characteristics.

Watch this short video about how Cerion employs design for manufacturing techniques to ensure nanomaterial scale-up to industrial volumes, presented by our EVP of Research and Development, Dr. David Sandford

Manufacturing & Commercialization

During Cerion’s 15+ year tenure in the nanomaterials space, we have invested $50M in equipment and capabilities and continued to develop methodologies and best practices for preserving the technical attributes of nanoparticles during scale-up – with some proprietary processes surpassing the maturity of the industry overall.  

We support our clients with various levels of pilot production for nanomaterial prototyping and qualification, up through and including, industrial scale manufacturing, based on their commercialization needs. The design of our system allows us to scale-up, scale-down and rapidly reset between manufacturing runs to ensure we can meet their requirements at every stage. 

Quality and consistency during production is paramount. Our specialized in-house analytical team ensures both timely and accurate results, ensuring quality, cost and timeline parameters are met. We start each manufacturing event with robust quality assurance requirements for our raw materials and continue with in-line and off-line quality control throughout the manufacturing process. Each batch is tested for quality based on the client specifications. Our process ends with a certificate of analysis for the finished material, which verifies material specifications known to demonstrate performance in our customer’s product.  

We develop repeatable and scaleable processes.  Our years of nanomaterial manufacturing expertise allows us to scale horizontally or vertically and build out additional production lines if required to support our client’s needs both quickly and cost effectively. 

Watch this short presentation about ‘what it takes’ for manufacturing to be successful at the nanoscale, presented by our EVP of Manufacturing, Development and Commercialization, Doug Singer

Learn more about our nanomaterial design, scale-up and manufacturing capabilities.