Copper inkjettable inks - Applied Nanotech Holdings

Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc. Expands Research Agreement and Enters Negotiations to Finalize an Exclusive License Agreement With Leading Industrial Chemical Products Company

Tuesday October 7, 11:46 am ET

AUSTIN, TX--(MARKET WIRE)--Oct 7, 2008 -- Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc. (OTC BB:APNT.OB - News) today announced that the third phase of its research project with a leading industrial chemical products company in Japan, announced on September 29, 2008, has been expanded and the previously announced funding of $700,000 has been increased to $1.2 million over the next twelve months in order to accelerate the prototyping of copper inkjettable inks and product introduction. The parties also expect a fourth phase of the project, of at least the same magnitude, to begin in October 2009 to expand the applications.

In addition, the companies agreed to enter negotiations to finalize an exclusive worldwide license to Applied Nanotech's copper inks technology within the parameters set forth in the current research agreement between the companies. These parameters include an upfront payment of up to $2.0 million and a running royalty rate of 4% on sales of the copper ink product. The parties agreed to finalize and execute the license agreement no later than April 15, 2009. During the period until then, the parties will formulate a comprehensive worldwide license agreement drafted in both English and Japanese, based on the results of the R&D partnership.

"I believe that the almost immediate expansion of this program by $500,000 following on the heals of last week's announcement, along with the significant agreement for the overall terms for a license, show the seriousness of this application in the minds of our customer. Printable inks may redefine the manufacturing process for a wide variety of electronic devices and ANI is at the forefront of these developments, with this partner, as well as two additional Phase I studies that we have underway," said Tom Bijou, Chairman and CEO of Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc.

ABOUT APPLIED NANOTECH HOLDINGS, INC.

Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc. is a premier research and commercialization organization dedicated to developing applications for nanotechnology with an extremely strong position in the fields of electron emission applications from carbon film/nanotubes, sensors, functionalized nanomaterials, and nanoelectronics. It also possesses investments related to electronic digitized sign technology. ANI has over 250 patents or patents pending. Its business model is to license its technology to partners that will manufacture and distribute products using the technology. ANI's website is www.appliednanotech.net.

Contact:

     COMPANY CONTACT
 Doug Baker
 Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc.
 248.391.0612
 Email Contact

 MEDIA CONTACT
 William J. Spina
 781.378.2000
 Email Contact

---

Source: Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc.

Nano-inks could advance printed electronics

R. Colin Johnson
EE Times
(07/28/2008 10:48 AM EDT)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Nano-inks for aerosol printing of electronics circuitry are being jointly developed by Applied Nanotech Inc. and Optomec for its M3D aerosol jet printer.

Optomec's jet printer transfers metallic, semiconducting and insulating inks onto any shaped substrate. Aerosol Jet printing like ink-jet printing can reproduce electronic circuits on inexpensive flexible polymer films.

Optomec's printer is designed for rapid prototyping of new devices and short production runs, but printable electronics is also poised to debut in consumer electronics devices later this year, according to IDTechEx Ltd. (Cambridge, Mass.) Printed electronics applications include patterning circuit boards, solar panels, on-battery testers, RFID tags, interconnection planes and other flexible electronics.

Most ink-jet printing is currently done with silver inks, which are expensive compared to copper nano-inks announced by Applied Nanotech (Austin, Texas) and Optomec (Albuquerque, N.M.). Current copper inks copper flakes over 250 nanometers in size, requiring 424-degree F annealing. Applied Nanotech said its copper nanoparticles 10 to 20 nanometers and can be deposited at annealing temperatures below 212 degrees F.

The Optomec printer's minimum feature size of 10 microns prompted it to partner with Applied Nanotech to optimize its ultra-small-particle nano-inks for the M3D, which uses a finer nozzle configuration than ink-jet printers. Optomec also employed an aerodynamic flow guidance deposition head which can be focused to a virtual nozzle size of 10 microns. Since the deposition head is over 5 millimeters away from the substrate, it allows 3-D surfaces to be "painted" with electronic circuitry.

Applied Nanotech said it is also developing other nano-inks based on other nanoparticles formulations, including carbon nanotubes.

Source

Copper Nanoparticle Inks and Applied Nanotech

As to copper inks (which I understand will be Applied Nanotech's future, making and salvation) I can find nothing in the literature about it, the Japanese partner or what is so valuable.

I did find this:
Nanosolar:
What is claimed is:
1. A method for fabricating coated nanoparticles, comprising the steps of: obtaining core nanoparticles containing one or more elements from group IB and/or IIIA and/or VIA and coating the core nanoparticles with one or more layers of metal from group IB, IIIA or an element from group VIA in a controlled fashion such that the resulting coated nanoparticles have a desired stoichiometric ratio of elements, wherein the core nanoparticles contain copper.
Source

And this - the Holy Grail - printing ICs:
The holy grail is a copper based ink, which has been available for some time, but not used because in the cure process the copper oxide layer that forms on the surface is not conductive. This then makes it difficult to achieve a good connection with the other components, and it is so unreliable that silver had been preferred as overall it offers better yield and reliability due to the interconnections involved.
Source

The cure processes:
1)
However, the Novacentrix PulseForge cures the copper ink so quickly that it does not have time for an oxide layer to form.
http://www.novacentrix.com/products/photonic.php

2)
M3D - Optomec another APNT cohort using a laser to sinter the copper:
Maskless Mesoscale Material Deposition (M3D) System
http://www.novacentrix.com/images/Characterization%20of%20Soft%20Magnetic%20Nano-Material%20Deposited%20with%20M3D%20Technology%20-%20ppt.pdf

And Cima NanoTech:
Technology Pioneer 2008 - Jon Brodd (Cima Nanotech)

YouTube Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqnf9foDdi0

Interesting!

A competitor?

Ref:
Nano Materials in Printed Electronics: Bill Faulkner1; 1Cima Nanotech
The Global Electronics Industry is seeking next generation manufacturing methods to produce cheaper, smaller, and more flexible components. Industry leaders are ramping up significant development projects to eliminate the high capital costs, expensive processing, and environmentally damaging lithographic etching of electronics. Functionalized nano-materials are emerging a key component to meeting these goals. Printing technologies such as ink jet, gravure, flexo, and other graphic arts based systems are being optimized to achieve the higher resolution and operational demands of electronics. In many cases, the unique properties of nano materials are the necessary components in inks and coatings for these systems. The multi-billion dollar market opportunity includes components for flat panel displays, EMI shielding films, solar cells, printed thin film transistors, and RFID tags.Cima NanoTech is manufacturing & commercializing nano metal-based coatings and inks that enable self-assembling random patterns and direct printing of electronic circuits and films. The venture capital backed company is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota with R&D facilities in Caesarea, Israel, and toll manufacturing in Japan.
http://www.tms.org/Meetings/Specialty/nano06/PrelimTechProg.pdf

Cima NanoTech:
http://www.cimananotech.com/

NovaReady:
APNT is a customer of theirs for copper nanoparticles.

Japanese chemical cohort:
Unknown name.

All very interesting and VERY frustrating cause I have no idea whatsoever where APNT fits in and what they bring to the table.

Nano-Proprietary, Inc. and NanoReady Ltd. Announce Strategic Alliance to Commercialize Metallic Nanoparticles

Marketwire
May 15, 2008: 09:05 AM EST

Nano-Proprietary, Inc. (OTCBB: NNPP), through its subsidiary, Applied Nanotech, Inc. (ANI), and NanoReady Ltd. of Israel announced a strategic alliance for the manufacturing in volume metallic nanoparticles using NanoReady's wet chemistry process.

The initial focus of the strategic alliance will be volume production of copper nanoparticles to be utilized on a worldwide exclusive basis by ANI and its partner in Japan (a leading industrial chemical products company, see the press release of October 1, 2007) for producing inkjettable copper inks for the flexible electronics, solar cell, digital printed circuit board (PCB) and many other industries.

The current agreement with NanoReady is highly important due to ANI's fast progress in developing inkjettable copper inks. Based on this progress ANI and its partner in Japan decided that it would be important to secure volume production of copper nanoparticles and, in the future, other metallic nanoparticles for their metallic ink products.

"We are very pleased to cooperate with NanoReady and develop our products based on their proprietary wet chemistry process that is inducible to high volume production of copper nanoparticles required for our ink products," said Dr. Zvi Yaniv, president and CEO of ANI.

Ronen Frish, NanoReady's CEO, adds: "The cooperation of our two companies opens a broad range of new opportunities within the ink industry and will lead to opportunities in additional industries."

ABOUT NANO-PROPRIETARY, INC.

Nano-Proprietary, Inc. is a holding company consisting of two wholly owned operating subsidiaries. Applied Nanotech, Inc. is a premier research and commercialization organization dedicated to developing applications for nanotechnology with an extremely strong position in the fields of electron emission applications from carbon film/nanotubes, sensors, functionalized nanomaterials, and nanoelectronics. Electronic Billboard Technology, Inc. (EBT) possesses technology related to electronic digitized sign technology. The Companies have over 250 patents or patents pending. Nano-Proprietary's business model is to license its technology to partners that will manufacture and distribute products using the technology. Nano-Proprietary's website is www.nano-proprietary.com.

COMPANY CONTACT
Doug Baker
Chief Financial Officer
Nano-Proprietary, Inc.
248.391.0612
Email Contact
MEDIA CONTACT
William J. Spina
781.378.2000
Email Contact

Source

NanoReady Collaborative, Fast-track Improvement of Products

NanoReady is dedicated to enhancing specific characteristics of a selected element while maintaining its physical dimensions, thus enabling manufacturers to improve products and save process time and costs.

NanoReady Service is designed for manufacturers and product developers who have not yet explored the capabilities of Nanotechnology and wish to improve their products, as well as those who have nanotechnology know-how, and wish to further improve the characteristics of their products. A Nanotechnology project with NanoReady scientist will commonly be completed in the time range of 2-6 months.

Business Model

We have established a proven, effective working process for implementing a nanotechnology project with NanoReady’s scientists and industrial production experts:

1. NanoReady works with you to discuss which critical elements of your product may be improved with nanoparticle additives.
2. Together the expected material or product improvement will be defined and technical specifications for the given element/materials agreed.
3. NanoReady defines the detailed project roadmap.
4. NanoReady produces the enhanced element/materials prototype
5. Joint performance testing at your production site (stress or other tests, as appropriate)
6. If all tests are successfully performed, NanoReady works with you to set logistics for the implementation process.
   

Typically, the above process can be completed in 2- 6 months, enabling a fast time to market.

NanoReady Service can be implemented several times, including the exploration of further improvements to products that have already gone through the NanoReady Service process, enabling the improvement of additional parameters or changes to the physical dimensions without compromising performance.

Contact us to learn more about how NanoReady Service can improve your products.

Source

NNPP now ~ $1 - going to $5, $10, $50?

I think so, in light of this CEO letter to shareholders:

[My bolding]

A Periodic Report - March 2008

I wanted to update you on our progress during the last quarter and share some insights into the current year.

First, a few administrative details. As many of you know, the company has primarily done business as Applied Nanotech Inc. on a daily operating basis and has used Nano-Proprietary, Inc. as our public face. I haven't been with the company long enough to fully understand the reasoning behind this, but I think you will agree it no longer makes sense. At the annual meeting this year, one of the items on the agenda will be a change of the name of NPI to Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc. This change, along with a standardization of logos and stationary is designed to present a more consistent image to the world and remove some of the confusion as to who we are. Our subsidiary, Applied Nanotech, Inc. will continue to exist primarily due to ongoing contractual obligations.

We have scheduled our annual shareholder meeting for May 20, 2008 at the Austin Renaissance Hotel. Following the meeting, which will start at 10:00 am, we will be conducting tours at our headquarters facilities. For those of you who have never had the opportunity to visit us, this is the ideal opportunity.

The last quarter, bringing 2007 to a close and ending my first year at NPI, was certainly an unexpectedly busy time. The financial results are best told by reviewing the 10K, but in summary, our 4th quarter sales of $1,077,149 and net loss of $965,511 were in line with our expectations. Adding these to our already strong year to date numbers (by historical company standards) gave us our best showing from operations in the company history. Losses were, of course, impacted by our huge legal fees from on-gong litigation. We expect these type expenses to be significantly lower in 2008. On the Canon matter, we are primarily waiting for the appeals process to grind forward. Keesmann related expenses will be sharply reduced due to the additional defendants (those other than Keesmann) offer to pay a settlement to us while simultaneously withdrawing their financial support of Keesmann. We are asking the court for an expeditious trial in the Keesmann matter with the hope of resolving this matter during 2008.

Working on the Keesmann matter was only one of the things that kept the fourth quarter busy. Final work on the hydrogen sensor and supporting the integration into our customer's product occupied the sensor team. This customer, who has already entered into a royalty bearing license and technology transfer agreement, is planning an April product announcement. We expect this agreement to be royalty bearing during 2008.

I also couldn't be happier with the progress we are making on printable copper inks. We have met our customers’ design specifications and are capable of manufacturing consistent batches of material in sufficient quantity to allow the delivery of samples to our customers' prospects. Our current activity revolves around securing sufficient quantities of nano-particles to allow production lot sizes to be manufactured by our customer. We fully expect this project to leave the development phase during 2008 resulting in a production license and royalties.

Mitsui has made the initial payment extending their "option to a license" agreement with us and we are actively negotiating a Master License with Mitsui that would allow them to issue sub-licenses within their market areas. Although we do not have complete transparency through to the end potential licensee, Mitsui has asked us to approve negotiating guidelines for two of the potential sub-licensees that they are working with. We believe they are working with a total of five potential licensees.

As significant as our business results have been, the progress in obtaining new patents and expanding the geographical coverage of our portfolio overshadows them because they are at the heart of future results. We have had our first patent issued in Japan (see press release dated 1/31/08) and our recent nano-biological patent (see press release dated 2/28/08) are key milestones.

As I am writing this, we are expecting our quarterly revenue for the almost completed first quarter to be in the $800 - $900,000 range, consistent with the past few quarters. After these billings, we will have at least $3.3 million in research backlog. We, of course, have sales efforts underway across our business lines to generate additional research projects that will hopefully yield IP with lasting value.

I continue to be optimistic about the prospects for the business and hope you will make an effort to join us for our annual shareholder meeting.

Sincerely,

Thomas F. Bijou

http://www.nano-proprietary.com/InvestorRelations/ShareHolderCommunications.asp