Aug 13 2007
Today, Intellectual Property Partners LLC announced the launch of titanium-based nanowires, a breakthrough material created at the University of Arkansas. When assembled into free-standing membranes, the material, a two-dimensional “paper,” provides solutions for a variety of applications, including chemical and water filtration. The nanowires also have applications in solar cells, drug delivery, fuel cells and high-temperature non-woven textiles.
“It is unprecedented to have such a pure fiber,” said James Throckmorton, president of Intellectual Property Partners LLC, the Atlanta-based company that holds the global license for the technology. “In addition to withstanding extreme temperatures, titanium-dioxide-based nanowires can be used in the strongest chemical acids and bases. We’re excited to offer this patent-pending technology to a company that can bring it to market.”
Developed by Z. Ryan Tian, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Arkansas, titanium-dioxide – also known as TiO2, titania and titanium white – nanowires are extremely light, long and thin fibers. They have a diameter of 60 nanometers and are 30 to 40 millimeters long. A nanometer equals one billionth of a meter. The wires can withstand temperatures up to 700 degrees Celsius. Their high thermal stability and chemical inertness ensure performance in high temperatures and other harsh environments.
In 2006, Tian and his research team published findings in the Journal of Physical Chemistry. They reported that the material could be folded, cut and shaped into three-dimensional devices. The researchers used a hydrothermal heating process to create long nanowires out of titanium dioxide. From there, they created free-standing membranes. The resulting material resembled regular, white paper. The researchers created tubes, bowls and cups with the material.
The technology is licensed exclusively to Intellectual Property Partners LLC through the University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation, an organization that helps transfer early-stage inventions from university laboratories to corporations and start-up organizations.