A manufacturer of nanoscale metals that include silver, copper, and aluminum, says its production equipment is now capable of annually manufacturing metric tons of the materials. NovaCentrix, Austin, Texas, (novacentrix.com) says it has broken barriers using scaling techniques learned from high volume semiconductor and computer manufacturing. “The development was pushed by demand for low cost, high volume anti-microbial and anti-viral materials, and printed electronics,” says NovaCentrix VP of Engineering Drew Granzow.

The company says it uses proprietary pulsed-plasma synthesis to make high quality nanopowders of essentially any conductive inorganic material. The firm is also working on Metalon inks, a portfolio of nanoscale conductive inks for printable-electronics applications. These inks are well suited for high-speed printing processes because they are formulated from pure and discrete nanoscale silver and copper particles. The company also makes a water-based, electrically conductive silver ink, Metalon JS-011, for ink jet printers, and FS-066, a stretchable, conductive ink formulated to adhere to flexible substrates, and stretchable up to 100% while it stays conductive. For life-science applications, NovaCentrix's Effisil silver additives are used in FDA approved wound-care products.