SBIR-STTR Award

Rational Design of sub-100 nm Polystyrene Particles with a Low Coefficient of Variation in Size
Award last edited on: 11/7/2017

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
DOC : NIST
Total Award Amount
$399,904
Award Phase
2
Solicitation Topic Code
N/A
Principal Investigator
Michael Schreuder

Company Information

Tetramer Technologies LLC

657 South Mechanic Street
Pendleton, SC 29670
   (864) 646-6282
   tom.demoss@tetramertechnologies.com
   www.tetramer.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 03
County: Anderson

Phase I

Contract Number: 70NANB17H240
Start Date: 00/00/00    Completed: 00/00/00
Phase I year
2017
Phase I Amount
$99,953
In this Phase I SBIR program, Tetramer Technologies will develop new, commercially attractive, highly monodisperse polystyrene latex standards in a variety of sizes (i.e. 30 nm to 100 nm) via emulsion polymerization processes that employ a surfactant and that are surfactant-free. Surfactant free emulsions will be stabilized through the use of ionic comonomers in the emulsion polymerization. The focus of the study will be to elucidate the inter-relation of processing parameters on the resulting particle size and coefficient of variation of the size. Specifically, once 100 nm particles with a coefficient of variation of 2% has been achieved (duplicating NIST SRM 1963a), the ratios of reagents, stirring time, and rate of reagent addition will be translated to generating particles with a size of 30 nm with a coefficient of variation 2% or less. Sizing measurements will be performed with a variety of tools including, both scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to asses the products of the research. In addition, the cross-referencing of the techniques with one another will used to establish effective metrological practices for sizing the particles.

Phase II

Contract Number: 70NANB18H174
Start Date: 00/00/00    Completed: 00/00/00
Phase II year
2018
Phase II Amount
$299,951
During this Phase II SBIR development program, Tetramer Technologies will develop highlymonodisperse 100-nm and sub-100-nm diameter nanoparticles for use as latex size standards. Highlymonodisperse nanoparticle latexes are needed for improved calibration of electron microscopes, lightscatteringparticle sizing instruments, atomic force microscopes, and particle counters/contamination monitors used in the semiconductor industry. Current commercial latex standard size distributions are too broad to provide the required resolution for the calibration of these systems. During Phase I, Tetramer synthesized highly-monodisperse 100-nm nanoparticles with less than 2 nm size variation and demonstrated the ability to tune the size below 100 nm, however, the sub-100-nm syntheses were not optimized. Building on the Phase I success, Tetramer will develop reproducible synthetic methods to produce highly-monodisperse sub-100-nm nanoparticles, study the stability of the produced latexes, and scale-up the process to commercially viable levels. Initially, Tetramer will develop a synthetic method to reproducibly deliver sub-100-nm nanoparticles with controlled sizes. Subsequently, Tetramer will investigate methods to produce narrower size distributions, analyzing the samples with both dynamic light scattering and scanning electron microscopy. Nanoparticles will be analyzed to determine their long-term stability as latex solutions. Finally, Tetramer will scale-up the synthetic and purification procedures and begin sampling materials to commercial partners.