[nanoPost] Novel nanoporous materials

Company Sweden

The company specializes in developing novel nanoporous materials for use in a range of industries, from engineering to petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.

The patented technique for producing high surface area nanoporous materials allows new compositions to be manufactured at considerably lower cost than existing methods.

In catalysis, for example, these high surface area materials are of particular interest in developing ultra-selective catalysts for industrial applications that save energy and reduce the generation of waste and pollutants.

Bio–separation

In chromatography nanostructured porous solids with tunable properties and dimensions are invaluable.

High surface areas promote biological interaction, with nanopores and nanoparticle dimensions on the same scale as many bioactive molecules (proteins, enzymes and other bioactive compounds).

These structures are more stable than conventional organic porous materials, which are mechanically, thermally and chemically inferior. The company has developed hierarchical pore systems that are especially suited to chromatography applications. These solids offer high flow rates and short elution times.

Diagnostics

A challenging trend in the biotechnology industry is the demand for fluorescent markers that exhibit long-term stability, high affinity to specific target molecules, and low cytoxicity.

The company has already developed a range of nontoxic nanoporous oxide particles ranging between 10nm and 500nm, with tailored surface functional groups that show excellent bioavailability, high fluorescence and extra capacity for loading biomolecules such as antibodies or allergens.

The company are currently conducting trials with our partners to use these materials in immunology and laboratory assays.

Drug and gene delivery

Together with academic and industrial partners, Nanologica is developing drug and gene delivery systems for therapeutics and diagnostics. Current genome delivery systems based on viral technologies risk recombination of the viral genome with the organism. Not only is this disastrous for the organism, it could boost the generation of new viral species (the hypothesis for the genesis of the HIV virus).

The preparation of nonviral delivery systems is vital for the success of therapeutic methods based on genomic techniques, a long-term goal of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

Nanoporous materials support the delivery of genetic material (for example DNA, RNA, siRNA, mRNA or oligonucleotides) due to their large surface areas, tailored pore sizes, pore geometries and functional surfaces.

Catalysis

From petrochemicals to pharmaceuticals, many of the products that fuel the global economy could not have been made without catalysts – substances that initiate key chemical reactions and enable them to work at lower temperatures or pressures than would otherwise be possible.

The company produces nanoporous supports with the highest surface area ever obtained for a range of metal oxide compositions. These materials are vital in catalytic applications where a high contact area between reactants and catalyst is necessary.

Using a newly developed production method, metal oxide nanoporous frameworks with a homogeneous high-density number of active sites for catalysis can be achieved in a one-step procedure, reducing catalyst costs and ensuring peak activity and selectivity.

Higher selectivity means less waste and fewer impurities, which could lead to safer drugs and reduced environmental impact.

Photonics

Our preparation route for porous solids makes it possible to tune the density and size of pores in a length scale equivalent to the visible spectrum (λ ∼ 400-700 nm) and infrared IR radiation (λ ∼ 750 nm-1 mm).

Periodic structuring of pores in the micrometer range has been used to give color to otherwise transparent materials. Color can be tuned by varying the periodicity of pores, pore size and the refractive index of the material.

The company manufactures films and monoliths of ordered spherical macrocavities possessing porous walls and exhibiting photonic crystal properties. Our photonic materials combine optical functionality with high surface areas, reactivity, size selectivity and pore accessibility.