Coatings World - JULY 2013

military agencies to advance commercialization of its EnComp Energetic nanocomposites and MComP Microcomposite materials for use in high-density energy storage and energy-efficient mechanical bearing markets.

These partnerships including the U.S. Army, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Navy further validate the potential impact of these advanced materials. The disruptive material science platforms developed by Powdermet and its partners have applications in industries, such as energy, defense and transportation among others.

“Powdermet has been at the forefront
of technical innovation for the past de-
cade, and our expertise in nanotechnol-
ogy and advanced materials development
has attracted top-tier partners,” said
Robert Miller, CEO of Abakan Inc. “The
company is now focused on commercial-
izing several of its technology platforms
following our succesful research and de-
velopment which have shown very im-
pressive results for these platforms. We
expect to serve multi-billion dollar mar-
kets across a variety of industries.”
Powdermet’s MComP Microcomposite
cermet (ceramic-metal) materials provide
the friction and wear performance equiv-
alent to advanced, diamond-like carbon
coatings, but with the toughness, strength
and formability of metals, according to
the company. Powdermet has partnered
with the U.S. Navy to provide a solu-
tion to contamination issues in spherical
plain airframe bearings using advanced
coatings that have already been com-
mercialized through Abakan subsidiary
MesoCoat. These nanocomposite cer-
met materials have applications across
the transportation, energy, military, con-
struction and other sectors for reducing
friction and extending the life of, or elimi-
nating the need for lubricants, in highly
stressed systems.

process of Genomatica. The one-step fermentation process is based on sugars as a renewable feedstock. The companies have agreed not to disclose financial details of the agreement.

The license agreement allows BASF to
build a world-scale production facility that
will use the Genomatica process to manu-
facture BDO based on renewable feed-
stock. Under the terms of the agreement,
Genomatica will continue to
advance its patented renewable
BDO production process technol-
ogy based on sugars while BASF
will produce renewable BDO, which will
be available in the second half of 2013 for
sampling and trials.

MIXING - BLENDING - DISPERSION

T
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E
®

NOW AVAILABLE OF U.H.M.W. POLYETHYLENE ****

Patented
Anti-Static
Natural

BASF Plans Production of Butanediol from Renewable Feedstock Using Genomatica Technology BASF plans to begin production of 1,4-bu- tanediol based on renewable feedstock (renewable BDO) using the patented