Nanotronics sees success under microscope

CLEVELAND—Nanotronics Imaging Inc. has been offering its computer-controlled microscope to the rubber industry for a little more than a year now, and thus far the firm's officials say the reception has been quite good.

It was at the ACS Rubber Division's 2014 International Elastomer Conference that the firm unveiled its nSPEC 3D microscope for the rubber industry, in particular for use in studying filler dispersion.

Nanotronics—with offices in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, along with a recently acquired manufacturing site in Hollister, Calif.—has sold some of the 3D microscopes to a variety of rubber compounders, custom mixers, research laboratories and rubber goods manufacturers, including tire makers, said Chief Technology Officer Julie Orlando.

The response has been “ "Wow,' because they have a tool where they can very rapidly determine how well they've dispersed their ingredients,” she said

Orlando discussed Nanotronics' progress during the 2015 Rubber Division conference and Rubber Expo, held Oct. 13-15 in Cleveland.

“We're looking at things that were smaller than we were able to resolve before,” she said. “We can resolve particles and agglomerates in the size range of 0.35 microns. That's something that we haven't been able to do before with other methods.”

The more traditional methods were looking at agglomerates larger than 3 microns, or roughly nine times larger than what the nSPEC 3D can study, she said.

Orlando has a long history with the founders of Nanotronics, CEO Matthew Putman and his father John, who serves as president. The Putmans previously owned Tech Pro Inc. before selling it to the parent of Alpha Technologies Inc. in 2008.

She first worked in a co-op job with Tech Pro while studying at the University of Akron, then as an applications engineer with the firm after graduation. She stayed at Alpha Technologies for about a year after the sale, then spent 11/2 years at Duramax Marine.

But she was more than ready when Matthew called when he was starting Nanotronics Imaging in January 2011.

“I was the third employee of the company,” Orlando said. “I came on board to start something new and exciting. I believed in the co-founders of the company and the technology and what the future vision of the company was. I saw it very early on and wanted to be a part of it.”

The first—and still largest—product for Nanotronics was developing a tool for use in the semiconductor industry.

Then the Putmans and Nanotronics entered the rubber industry testing field with the introduction last year of the nSPEC 3D.

“We got back into it because we know the previous constraints that were faced in measuring dispersions,” Orlando said. “We worked so closely with other dispersion tools and designing previous methods, we learned what the constraints were. We didn't want to just introduce a tool that was comparable to other tools available to measure dispersions. We wanted to create a platform that was new and evolutionary.”

In short, Nanotronics' vision is to create a platform that can be used globally and is technologically transformative to the industries it serves, including the rubber sector. “We're at this inflection point of nanotechnology and trying to disperse and incorporate them into rubber compounds, and we have a tool that can measure dispersion of things we were never able to see and measure before.”

Orlando said the firm was curious to see how customers would utilize the technology and the information it could provide. Nanotronics spent a lot of time doing studies with clients and partners in the industry, trying to get potential customers to understand what value this could provide and how it could help them.

What they have found thus far has been interesting, she said. For example, when using two-dimensional technology, it may indicate that two compounds have similar dispersion values. But the third dimension—brought forth with the nSPEC 3D, can add to the story, she said. That third dimension may show that while the surface dimensions of an agglomeration are similar, the total volume of the undispersed filler may be quite different.

“Previously, to generate 3D topography information, we'd have to run complex testing,” Orlando said. “This is very lengthy. We can do these things very rapidly with the nSPEC 3D.”

Having access to more detailed information will enable rubber firms to develop new materials for use in their rubber compounds, she said. “These are really the transformative ideas that will change the industry. Successfully being able to disperse these silicas and carbon nanotubes into compounds can immensely extend the life of products in the field.”

The Nanotronics technology also can be utilized to understand dispersion in non-black compounds, which she said is a major step forward in dispersion measurement.

Some customers have found further uses for the nSPEC 3D once they have it in-house. Orlando said some are using it to measure molded surfaces or to understand surface roughness on an extruded part.

“I think we knew we had a tool that was unique and that once our customers began to use them, they'd find ways in which this tool would help their process control and R&D applications,” she said. “We've had customers who have been able to mix several lab batches of a compound. This gives them a tool that's very rapid and gives them a very quick way to determine which batches to continue to study.”

Earlier this year, Nanotronics purchased Franklin Mechanical & Control Inc., the Hollister-based manufacturer of advanced mechanical and optical equipment that had been the main supplier of Nanotronics' equipment. The new unit was renamed Nanotronics Automation, offering customers a fully integrated suite of hardware prototyping, production services and solutions.

Prior to the deal, Orlando said Nanotronics considered itself a software company that focused on image process techniques and providing defect maps and classification for our customers.

“This acquisition allowed us to become vertically integrated and also added a way for us to develop automated equipment in a much more rapid way than we have in the past.”

Nanotronics employs just more than 50, according to Orlando. The majority of software development engineers are in Brooklyn, where Matthew Putman is based, with tech service engineers and some software development engineers in Cuyahoga Falls, where John Putman is based.

From here, Nanotronics continues to work with new customers and add in new features and new calculations requested by those customers.

“As more people have the need to look at nanofillers and particles incorporated into their compounds, there will be more of a need for this type of technology and this type of tool,” Orlando said.