New Cornell center to focus on nanomaterials

CNY Business Journal (1996+), May 23, 2008 by Tampone, Kevin

ITHACA - A new research center at Cornell University will help a team of scientists develop new nanomaterials with a wide range of applications.

The university received a five-year, $25 million grant in April to help establish the center from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology's (KAUST) Global Research Partnership. KAUST is a new science and technology university opening in Saudi Arabia in September 2009.

Cornell was one of four universities worldwide to receive a grant from KAUST's research partnership. The organization invited about 60 universities to compete for the awards, says Emmanuel Giannelis, an engineering professor and chairman of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell.

Giannelis is also a co-director of the new research center. Giannelis and Lynden Archer, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, have been working on the new nanomaterials for several years.

Archer is the research center's other co-director.

The materials have applications in solar cells, water purification, carbon-dioxide capture and sequestration, and enhanced oil production, Giannelis explains.

It's not just one material, he adds, but a whole class of new materials that use a common technological platform to meet a variety of needs.

Archer and Giannelis worked with researchers from other universities on the materials as well. They include Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, the University of Houston, the University of Cambridge, and the University of California, Los Angeles.

The materials are composed of nanoparticles that can be turned into fluids without the addition of a solvent. The particles themselves allow researchers to create fluids that have atypical properties, Giannelis says.

They can create magnetic liquids, for example. The ability to add such properties makes them extremely useful, Giannelis says.

The research center will work on studying the new materials further, optimizing their performance, and testing them for various applications. Specifically, the money from KAUST will go toward building a scale-up and testing facility, which would allow researchers to manufacture and test the materials in larger quantities, Giannelis says.

The center will also partner with companies, including Corning, Inc. (NYSE: GLW), Eastman KodakCo.(NYSE: EK), and Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX). Smaller firms will also be included, such as Summit Lubricants of Batavia and NaturaiNano, Inc. (OTCBB: NNAN.OB) of Pittsford.

The industry partners will eventually help commercialize the new materials, Giannelis says. The center may also spin out companies of its own, he adds.

"We hope to work closely with [the companies]," he says. "We're working with a number of them."

The University of Oxford, Stanford University, and Texas A&M University were the other three schools to receive KAUST grants.

Cornell will support the design and operation of a nanoscale facility at KAUST and provide advice on curriculum and faculty development at the university.

"The addition of the Centers and Centers-in-Development expands on our growing network of world-class universities and private-sector research institutions that are working with KAUST on a wide range of scientific and technological questions," says Mohamed Samaha, KAUST interim vice president for research. "The KAUST research portfolio is becoming deeper and more diverse, and our footprint is becoming truly global."

KAUST's research partnership, which awarded the grants for the centers, launched to help the university establish strong links with other institutions around the world. The goal, ac-cording to KAUST, is to help the school build its research capacity.