UNIVERSITY of WA spinoff company Advanced Power Technology has signed a $12 million 50:50 joint venture agreement with Samsung Corning.
The joint venture will design and commission a pilot plant in WA to scale-up UWA’s patented Mechano-chemical Processing technology for the production of a wide range of nano-powders with particle sizes as small as five nanometres.
The technology was developed at UWA’s Research Centre for Advanced Material and Minerals Processing by Professor Paul McCormick.
The nano-powders derived from the technology have wide applications including use in microelectronic devices, structural ceramics, coatings, pigments, catalysts, cosmetics and ultra-violet filters.
The joint venture will be managed by Advanced Nano Technologies, a company to be incorporated in Australia and based in Perth.
APT will focus on developing applications for the nano-powders produced by the pilot plant.
Samsung is also taking an equity stake in APT to fund the development.
APT chairman Harold Clough said the potential value of this development to WA was enormous.
“It brings new opportunities for value-adding to the State’s engineering and scientific research industry generally,” Mr Clough said.
“The potential of the technology lies in its ability to provide cost effective nano-materials to the marketplace.”
