Nanotechnology was an emerging field just five or 10 years ago. Researchers knew they could do new things with the ability to tinker with atoms and molecules.
Now their discoveries and technological innovations are beginning to pay off with products - ranging from high-performance sporting equipment to stain-resistant clothing, paints that aim to be antimicrobial and go on smoother, sunscreens and cosmetics containing nanomaterials, and computer chips.
Companies and research institutions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have generated 185 nanotechnology patents and published patent applications since 1998, according to Thomson Scientific, a research company with offices in Philadelphia.
PChem makes silver nanoparticles - slightly larger than a molecule - for a water-based ink used on printed electronics. At the nanoscale, PChem's ink is highly electrically conductive and fast - printing 300 to 500 feet of paper a minute. The ink works at lower manufacturing temperatures that will not scorch paper.
Because of the miniature size of the silver particle and the surface shape, PChem says its ink also uses less silver than traditional larger-particle silver-based inks.
Revenues, $100,000 last year, are expected to increase four to six times this year, said co- founder Gregory Jablonksi.
That's because Scientific Games, the world's largest maker of scratch-off lottery tickets, is buying ink from PChem for a new electronic scratch-off ticket game recently sold to lotteries in Quebec, Oregon and Kansas. Pennsylvania plans to test-market the interactive game, possibly in June.
