Nanotechnology at Cabot:  Success Stories On The One-Gram to Million-Ton Scale

Abstract:

Cabot Corporation, with annual revenues in excess of $3 billion, is the world’s largest pure-play nanotechnology company.  Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that Cabot has been selling nanomaterials for over 100 years!  This talk will provide an introduction to the company, highlighting its core competency in the design, synthesis, and commercial manufacture of nanoparticles, along with a quick survey of the types of materials produced.  The talk will then focus on two specific types of particles:  carbon black, an organic nanoparticle manufactured on the ton scale, and silica-encapsulated, adsorbate-coated Au nanoparticles, an inorganic nanoparticle manufactured on the gram scale.  For each, the talk will describe how the particles are made, how/why they are used, how properties are optimized, and current opportunities/challenges.