[nanoPost] Halloysite Nanotubes

Company USA

A nanomaterials company developing proprietary technologies and processes to provide novel properties for a wide range of applications. Such applications include industrial polymers, plastics and composites; and additives to cosmetics, agricultural, and household products.

The company over twenty issued or pending patents and proprietary know-how for extraction and separation processes, of halloysite and other nanotubes, in combination with other materials.

Composites are used in automotive, aerospace, transportation, building, electronics and performance sporting goods to name just a few product sectors. The polymer composite market is a forty plus billion dollar international marketplace. Nanocomposites are the fastest growing segment within the polymer composites market. The nanocomposites market is estimated to double in size by 2010; nanoclays will represent 50 percent of the market.

The company believes that this market could be much bigger, but cost and quality issues are hurdles delaying a nanocomposite revolution. Today, nanomaterials are being used to replace conventional composite fillers. Fillers are used to reduce weight, increase strength, improve machine runnability, increase water and chemical resistance as well as improve film integrity.

The company's main product is a turnkey HNT polymer concentrate, in pellet form, that can be added directly into a polymer extruder.

Future market opportunities lie in many industries including cosmetics, agriculture, detergents, and pharmaceuticals.  

Today, most nanocomposites used in the plastics industry are made with “platy nanoclay” materials, but these clays are very difficult and expensive to process. Platy clays, such as the Kaolin clay below, contain layered two-dimensional sheets held together by an intercalation (or intermediary) layer. The sheets must first be exfoliated, or chemically separated, so they can function as nanoparticulate fillers and be dispersed in the polymer matrix.

In today’s platy nanoclay production process, these multiple steps lead to complexity, cost, and dispersion quality challenges. In addition, most manufacturers do not have the specialized equipment needed to produce composites with platy nanoclays – this required investment is the biggest market barrier for nanoclays.  

Kaolin Clay

The company’s patent-pending product bypasses these multiple processing steps and complex chemistry by offering the manufacturer a turnkey drop-in solution that runs on standard conventional equipment.

The product is a turnkey concentrate in the form of pellets that can be added directly into the extruder by the end manufacturer. The product contains Halloysite clay nanotubes, shown below, that are blended with a specific polymer base utilizing the patent pending technology. The resulting product is a drop-in additive. 

 
Halloysite Clay Nanotubes

The product doesn’t require the expensive exfoliation process needed by platy clay systems, and it successfully provides the required dispersion in a polymer matrix. Platy nanoclays, by comparison, have trouble achieving uniform dispersion, even with exfoliation, and work with a limited number of polymer families. 

The nanocomposite market is also limited by the small number of manufacturers that have invested in the know-how and the specialized equipment necessary to run platy nanoclays. The company is currently focused on leveraging this new drop-in, turnkey advantage to a select number of industrial compounders who supply major industries such as automotive, performance sporting goods and aerospace.