30th July 2009

US and Japanese scientists are being left behind in the wake of a Nottingham company which has developed a new reactor that for the first time allows the highly controlled production of nanoparticles in water.

Promethean Particles, a spin-out founded on the research work of Dr Ed Lester at the University of Nottingham, has capped its first year in business by commercialising the technology.

It will play a crucial role in the development of new products such as transparent sunscreen and green power generation.

With a number of feasibility contracts already completed, the firm is celebrating being through to the last four of the Lord Stafford Awards, which reward collaboration between universities and business.

It will now go head-to-head with the inventor of a fetal heart monitoring device, precast concrete specialists and a Loughborough-based electronics expert.

Dr Lester, who has been developing the innovation for more than a decade, said: "The core technology is a patent protected reactor, which uses hot pressurised water and simple metal salts to make inorganic nanoparticles.

"Using research and knowledge gained from the university, we learned how to control how these two fluids meet and interact to form particles –a process no one else in the world has yet mastered, despite investing millions of pounds into finding the solution."

He added: "What this means for the business is we can supply the world market – worth an estimated £3.1 trillion by Lux Research – with high quality, bespoke nanoparticles that can be used in a host of products to improve performance."

Based in BioCity in Nottingham, Promethean has already taken on three new people and a part-time chairman and plans to employ 10 more.

Its ability to provide feasibility studies and a commercial manufacturing option through its pilot plant has already seen it secure initial sales, which should rise to £1.5m by 2010.

Sandy Gordon, business development manager, said: "Being a relatively new player in the market, you always need to find your unique selling point and we have found this in the reactor.

"Current products on the market containing nanoparticles include sunscreens which are transparent while still offering the same level of protection as traditional white high spf [sun protection factor] formulations.

"We are able to produce new materials – new compositions, new sizes and shapes of particles – that cannot be manufactured by other technologies.

"In other fields like green energy generation, the use of nanoparticles could make solar cells more efficient or allow hydrogen storage for fuel cars – a massive global subject."

The technology has a range of healthcare applications, from orthopaedic implants to toothpaste that will prevent dental caries [tooth decay].

The University of Nottingham has played a significant role in the development of Promethean, having invested time and money in developing the technology and subsequent commercialisation of the work.

It is the strength of this relationship that has seen it attract the attention of judges from the Lord Stafford Awards, a competition which aims to celebrate collaborative partnerships between industry and academia.

Paul Yeomans, business development officer at the University of Nottingham, said: "This is a long-term plan and we will continue to work with Promethean through Ed Lester's role as technical director at the business.

"In return, the company provides us with insights into the current market for new materials and applications that can guide our research. This project has the potential to put the East Midlands on the international map."