Innovator of the Year Profile: Norman-Based SouthWest NanoTechnologies Inc. (SWeNT)

SouthWest NanoTechnologies, created in 2001, was spun off from technology developed at the University of Oklahoma by chemical engineering professor and SouthWest NanoTechnologies lead scientist Daniel Resasco.

The company produces high-quality, customizable single-wall carbon nanotubes and has pioneered a catalytic method called CoMoCAT, which is expected to dramatically reduce the cost to mass- produce them.

Single-wall nanotubes are 100,000 times smaller than a human hair and conduct heat better than any other known material, can carry electrical currents 100 times greater than copper and are 200 times stronger than steel. To achieve these properties, their structures, diameter, length and purity must be controlled.

With CoMoCAT, SouthWest NanoTechnologies grows superior quality single-wall nanotubes in a controlled environment that can be customized for limitless applications.

“Single-wall nanotubes will have an impact in many areas that range from aerospace and advanced materials to biomedical applications and cancer therapy,” Resasco said. “This represents a multibillion-dollar market opportunity for carbon nanotubes. The unique CoMoCAT catalytic process we developed produces single-wall nanotubes of high quality at very high selectivity and is scalable to high production volumes.”

Some of the uses for nanotubes include molecular interconnects for next-generation computer chips; invisible wires for flexible, low-cost information displays; biological and chemical sensors for enhanced homeland security; nanoscale drug delivery vehicles enabling personalized cancer treatment; and ultra-tough nanocomposite fibers for airframes, spacecraft and body armor.

SouthWest NanoTechnologies currently is selling everything its 17 employees can make in its 5,000-square-foot plant in Norman. To address growing customer demand for its products, the company hired Axiom Capital Management to help raise $5 million in equity capital during the first quarter of 2007. Of these funds, $1.5 million will be used for equipment and $3.5 million for working capital to both expand capacity and broaden product offerings.

In 2008, the company said it expects to achieve $5 million in product revenues.

“SouthWest NanoTechnologies is not only the little company that could,” said Debra Levy Martinelli with OU’s Office of Technology Development. “It is the little company that is doing.”

(c) 2007 Journal Record – Oklahoma City. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.