White Paper Released
Oak Ridge scientists Dr. Thomas Thundat and Dr. Arpad Vass, Georgia Tech scientist Dr. Yulin Deng, and our own Lee Madden recently released a white paper entitled “Passive and active Decontamination of Biological and Chemical Agents Using Nanoplatelets.”
Illustrating the need to develop simple and cost-effective techniques to neutralize chemical and biological agents “urgent,” the paper discusses the unique properties of our Mg(OH)2 and MgO Nanoplatelets and how they may be used to successfully decontaminate sensitive electronic and aviation equipment.

Georgia Tech and Mohawk Industries Sign Contract
Polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) has been called the most important development in fibers since the introduction of nylon in the 1930’s. Unfortunately, it has relatively poor fire-retardant properties. Due to the fire-retardant capabilities of our Mg(OH)2 product, this problem may be resolved economically through the development of a PTT-Mg(OH)2 nanocomposite. That’s the objective of a recent proposal signed by Georgia Tech and Mohawk Industries and submitted to the state of Georgia for funding.

Dr. Dorman to Oversee R&D of Paper Project
Dr. Bill Dorman, who spoke on the paper industry at October’s shareholders meeting, has agreed to oversee the research and development phase of our product application(s) within the paper industry. Before he retired, Bill was the Corporate Manager of the Pulp & Paper Division of Associated Chemists, Inc., in Portland, Oregon. He will report directly to the Board.

New Items:

FSU in the Game
In January, Lee traveled to Tallahassee to meet with Dr. Joseph B. Schlenoff, Mandelkern Professor of Polymer Science at Florida State University’s Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. Dr. Schlenoff suggested that we produce our platelets with a content of Iron so that it may be used in magnetic media for the storage of data on hard drives. Schlenoff suggested that we might increase the storage capacity of hard drives “tenfold or higher.”

“Extremely Rare” Clear Mg(OH)2 Added to our Product Line
We have a new MG(OH)2 product, discovered during routine testing of a new machine. Lee had been considering the purchase of a Nano-Trak machine from Ernie Pectil, one our stockholders down in Largo, Florida. The Nano-Trak machine uses laser technology to measure and analyze nano-sized particles. Lee ordered tests of our material to make sure that the machine worked as promised, but the results were not what he expected.
A subsequent test was run on a different analyzer, which measures larger material. The results of this test indicated material that was 2,000 times larger than our known nanoparticles. Ernie Pectil found and took these pictures of this new product. This material was sent to Tim Vander Wood for analysis and Tim was able to confirm that this was, in fact, clear magnesium hydroxide. Although the clear form of MG(OH)2 does occur naturally, it is considered extremely rare (most magnesium hydroxide is white), so our ability to create this product is extremely exciting.
Oak Ridge has already expressed an interest in this latest product, which has great potential in the area of optical sensors.
           
D. Ward Enterprises Hired to Manage Fort Walton Beach Facility
Aqua Resources has hired D. Ward Enterprises as an independent consultant to manage our pilot facility in Fort Walton Beach. David Ward, president, has a BS in Business Administration as well as a mechanical and management background. He has worked with Lee for over 10 years, and is an early investor in Aqua Resources.

Coming in the next issue …
We will report on the results of the white paper, Lee’s trip to R&L Engineering in Georgia to view a demo of our explosive drying, and his tour of the Dominion Chemical Company plant in Petersburg, Virginia.