Business Development Managers for ANF Technology talk about their alumina nano fiber

Tim Ferland and Aleksandr Rakitin, Business Development Managers for ANF Technology Ltd. talk to AZoNano about their patent alumina nanomaterial known as NAFEN™.

It is the brand name of ANF Technology’s aluminum oxide nano fibers, an exciting new product that offers the possibility for innovation across a number of major industry sectors.

NAFEN™ is produced in three forms: milled powders, matted fibers and co-aligned fiber blocks.

The material can be used as a performance enhancing additive in coatings, polymers, ceramics and other raw materials in order to boost critical physical properties in the end-product.

These include significant increases in wear resistance, tensile strength, compressive strength, ductility (flexibility), heat resistance—as well as radiation and chemical resistance—from adding as little as 0.5% of NAFEN™.

NAFEN™ is manufactured by ANF Technology Ltd in their production facilities in Tallinn, Estonia.

According to Aleksandr Rakitin, NAFEN™ has some very interesting physical and mechanical properties that make it an exciting product for materials solution engineers. Whilst alumina nanomaterials in themselves are well known, NAFEN™ itself is a unique alumina nanofiber product due to a number of key differentiating factors.

In addition to its highly versatile physical properties (mentioned above), it is the only type of alumina nanofiber material available on the market that offers consistent, superior-grade quality with the production capability to make large-volume industrial quantities at a commercially competitive price.

As an enabling technology supporting industrial innovation, NAFEN™ could help its customers offer better performance, efficiency, quality and cost savings in their end-user materials applications. ANF Technology has made great effort to ensure that the production methods for NAFEN™ are protected under international Patent Law.

As a raw material ingredient NAFEN™ has a very wide range of end-use materials applications. Advanced ceramics and polymer composites are two areas where NAFEN™ is a highly sought-after product but according to Aleksandr Rakitin, they are also targeting and developing other markets that offer new and exciting ways for NAFEN™ to be utilized to good effect.

These include industrial, automotive and aviation paints and coatings, catalysis supports and carriers for petroleum and chemical processing, fuel cell technology and medical devices.

According to Tim Ferland, they have developed key partnerships with a number of industrial players in a range of sectors where NAFEN™ has demonstrated its performance benefits and huge potential as a tool for future innovation.

They currently have R&D partnerships with approximately 20 key companies, including major industrial multinationals in Paints and Coatings, Polymer Composites, Advanced and Medical Ceramics, Fuel Cell manufacturers, Electronics/Advanced Battery Systems and Thermal Insulation as well as growing interest from many other companies in these and other sectors.