Elmarco is the industry's first supplier of industrial scale nanofiber production equipment. Elmarco's unique NanospiderTM technology is designed for ease of use, scalability, modularity and flexibility in producing the highest quality nanofibers.
2. Company overview
• About Elmarco
• A world in 10-9 m
• NanospiderTM technology
• Nanofiber applications
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3. Elmarco - Business Mission
• Elmarco develops and produces equipment for the production
of nanofibers from laboratory to industrial scale
• Elmarco exploits its know-how and resources
to accelerate customers’ nanofiber product development
and to shorten its time to market
• We cooperate with industrial leaders and leading universities
to help enabling the use of nanofibers in today or future
high-volume applications
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4. Elmarco - Milestones
2000 – 2003 2004 – 2006 2007 – 2009 2010 2011 2012
• 2007: first industrial
Nanospider™ line
Elmarco’s
was installed
Nanofiber
division
was formed
• 2Gen Nanospider ™ • First installation of
in 2004
technology 2Gen NS Line 1600
introduced
100 NanospiderTM
• First Nanospider™ lab prototype machines sold
Elmarco was developed for water soluble polymers
founded as
semiconductor • First Nanospider™ equipment for • First Nanospider™ line
wet processing solvent-based polymers developed installed in cleanroom facility
equipment
manufacturer • New World-class Technology Center in Liberec and
supporting offices in the US and Japan was opened
2000 – 2003 2004 – 2006 2007 – 2009 2010 2011 2012
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5. Elmarco - Global support and service
Liberec, Czech Republic New Delhi, India
HQ, Sales, Service, Corporate R&D Indian sales office
Equipment production
Peter Hawlan, CEO
Raleigh, NC, USA Tokyo, Japan
Sales, Service Sales, Service
Showroom: Showroom:
NS Lab, NS 4S1000U NS Lab, NS 4S1000U, NS 1WS500U
Fred Lybrand, VP & CEO Americas Kaz Namoto, VP & CEO Asia
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6. Nanofibers - Definition
• Nanofibers are a nanomaterial
- At least one dimension less than 100 nm
• Industrial definition: diameters below 1,000 nm
- Made from polymers
- Created and used
as a layer or web
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7. Nanofibers - Nanofiber web
Relative Scale
Substrate Nanofiber layer
• Uniform fiber size
• Uniform pore size
• Embed active materials Substrate
• Reduce system level costs
Nanofiber layer
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9. Nanofibers - Scale
Nanospider™ Fine Fiber Meltblown Meltblown
0.03 gsm PA6 nanofiber on cellulose
substrate produced on Elmarco
Nanospider™ equipment
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10. Nanospider™ - Needle-free technology
Electrode is uniformly Nature defines the distance
coated in polymer between Taylor cones
Mechanically Lower operating Higher fiber Higher fiber
simple costs packing density uniformity
Lower equipment Higher web
costs uniformity
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11. Nanospider™ - Material flexibility
Organic Inorganic Biopolymers
PA6, PA 6/12 TiO2 Gelatin
Polyaramid SiO2 Chitosan
PUR (Polyurethane) SnO2 Collagen
PES (Polyethersulfone) PAA, PVA
WO3
PVA (Polyvinylalcohol) PLA, PCL
Al2O3
PAN, PEO, PS, PVP, PVP-I
Li4Ti5O12
PVDF, PVDF-CTFE, PEA
Mag: 5000x Mag: 5000x Mag: 5000x
Selected examples only, numerous other polymer systems have been deployed
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12. Nanospider™ - Scalability
NS Lab NS 0,5 m Line NS 1,0 m Line NS 1,6 m Line
Laboratory unit – Small volume Upscale to semi- High volume
verif. in samples: production: industrial production: production:
up to 10 m2/day sev. 10 m2/day several 1000 m2/day several 10,000 m2/day
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13. Nanospider™ - Key features of technology
• Ease of use
- Reliable mechanics, electronics
• Modularity/Scalability
- Product range from laboratory machine to industrial production line
- Scalability up to 4 spinning units in production line
• Flexibility
- Polymer system selection and properties
- Substrate material selection and properties
- Fiber characteristics
• Individuality
- Solution parameters (conductivity, temperature, surface tension, etc.)
- Environmental parameters (temperature, humidity, etc.)
- Base material parameters (cross and surface electrical resistance, etc.)
- Equipment parameters (voltage, electrode distance, etc.)
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14. Nanospider™ - Product portfolio
Lab Products Production Lines
Optimized for water or non water soluble polymers
NS LAB 200 NS 1WS500U NS 4S1000U NS 8S1600U
NS LAB 500 NS 3W1000U NS 4W1600U
NS LAB M (melt)
0.2 or 0.5 m 0.5 m width 1.0 m width 1.6 m width
Single electrode Interchangeable
(various types) electrode systems
Standalone spinning Standalone spinning Scalable up to 4 units
unit (line) unit (line) in line
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15. Nanospider™ - NS 4S1000U
Technical data Benefits
• Stationary wire principle electrodes • Optimized for non water soluble
• 4 spinning electrodes polymers
• 1,0 m spinning electrode width • High nanofiber web and fiber uniformity
(configurable between 0,3 – 1,0 m) • Cost effective equipment for early stage
manufacturing
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16. Nanospider™ - NS 8S1600U
Technical data Benefits
• Stationary wire principle electrodes • Optimized for non water soluble
• 8 spinning electrodes per unit polymers
• 1,6 m spinning electrode width • High throughput per unit
• Scalability up to 4 units (32 spinning • High nanofiber web and fiber uniformity
electrodes) in line • Low volume polymer system with
reduced solvent & polymer consumption
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17. Nanospider™ - NS 8S1600U
Production volume scalability
• 1, 2, 3 or 4 spinning units in line
• 8, 16, 24 or 32 spinning electrodes in line
• Start with one unit and scale up by addition of spinning units
• Centralized process control
• Optional peripheral equipment
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18. Nanospider™ - NS 1WS500U
Technical data
• Two interchangeable electrode systems
• 500 mm spinning electrode width
• Run time per batch approx. 60 min,
(depends on polymer / solvent solution)
• Integrated reversible unwind / rewind
• Process data tracking for PC analysis
Benefits
• Elmarco’s only equipment with water
and non water optimized electrodes
• Smallest Elmarco equipment
with stationary wire electrode
• Easy to switch between production
and experimental work
• Enabled for higher gsm and composite
samples preparation
• Easy set up and operation
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19. Nanospider™ - NS 1WS500U
Interchangeable electrode systems Three types of spinning electrodes
• Two electrode systems optimized for • Stationary wire electrode
water and non water soluble polymers • Rotating wire electrode
• Scalable volume polymer system • Rotating cylinder electrode
for each system type
• Time for interchange: 40 min
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20. Nanospider™ - NS 1WS500U
Comfortable operation Unwind / rewind
• Touch screen user interface • Reversible substrate winding direction in
• All process parameters controlled order to prepare high gsm or composite
material samples
• Start-up time: up to 30 min
• Max diameter of substrate roll: 400 mm
Process monitoring • Substrate speed: 0,015 – 1,95 m/min
• External unwind / rewind option for
• The system tracks process data in time additional in line peripheral insertion
• On line process data on LCD screen
• Process data transferred to a computer
for additional analysis
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21. Nanospider™ - NS 1WS500U
Optional external unwind / rewind
enables NS 1WS500U:
• Additional in line peripheral insertion
• Higher substrate speed
• Extended diameter of substrate roll
• Extended reversible winding
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22. Nanospider™ - NS LAB 200, NS LAB 500
Technical data
• Interchangeable spinning electrode
• 500 or 200 mm spinning electrode width
• Run time per batch up to 20 min
• Scalable volume polymer system
• Built in roll-to-roll capabilities for
substrates
Benefits
• Designed for experimental work
• Easy to scale up to industrial technology
• Capable of spinning variety of polymers
• Coat numerous substrates, including
cellulose, synthetics and fiberglass
• Time saving experimental work
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23. Nanospider™ - Core design principle
Quality Consistency Modular Flexible
• High quality fibers • Fiber • Start with a single • Nanospider™
• High quality webs • Web production unit and systems can be
• High quality equipment • Production ready add others to optimized for your
increase speed needs
• Production proven by • Repeatability
• Start with a lab tool • Optimize the
Elmarco customers
and use that to production method
prototype • Optimize the
polymer
• Optimize the
nanofiber layer
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24. Nanofiber applications – Examples
Air filtration Acoustic materials Medicine
• Industrial HVAC • Transportation • Wound care
• Engine air Intake • Room acoustics • Tissue engineering
• Cleanroom (HEPA, ULPA) • Home appliances • Drug release
• Gas turbines • Industrial equipment • Surgical drapes
• Dust collectors • Face masks
Liquid filtration Lithium-ion batteries Performance apparel
• Drinking water preparation • Battery separators • Outdoor sportswear
• Fuel and oil filtration • Battery electrodes • Protective clothing
• Processing filtration • Footwear
• Waste water treatment
• Seawater treatment
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25. Nanofiber applications – Air filtration
Nanofiber benefits
• Dramatic improvement in filtration
efficiency – the best attainable
efficiency on submicron particles
• Low initial and persistent pressure drop
• Possibility to optimize the interaction
between flow, efficiency and filter life
Nanofiber web characteristics
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26. Nanofiber applications – Liquid filtration
Key features of nanofibers:
• High porosity
• Small pore size
• Interconnected pore structure
• Unique physical and
mechanical performance
• Design flexibility for chemical /
/physical surface functionalization
Inexpensive substrate + thin nanofiber coating =
= superior filtration performance at a lower cost
Nanofibrous filtering media could be used for filtration of
water, beverages, bio-pharma materials, blood, chemicals, oils, diesel, petrol, etc
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27. Nanofiber applics – Performance apparel
Electrospun nanofiber webs can be engineered with a desired porous structure and
a range of polymers. Manufacturers are able to optimize the performance of the
composite material by the unique combination of nanofiber web properties:
• High specific surface area
• Low basis weight
• Small fibre diameter
• Porous structure with high permeability
• Potential to incorporate active chemistry
Performance apparel fabrics are evaluated on
the performance of the composite material.
Attributes most frequently evaluated include:
• Water resistance
• Breathability
• Water vapor transmission
• Windproof
• Resistance to wear
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28. Nanofiber applications – Acoustic materials
Nanofiber sound absorption material
• Effective in low / middle range of
frequencies
• Good thermal insulation properties in
addition to sound absorption
• Nanofiber layers produced by the mass
scale technology
• High effective sound absorption due to
the very small interstices in nanofiber layer
• Lightweight nanofiber layer with suitable
fiber fineness, porosity, density of the fiber
Effective at wide range of audible frequencies
Acoustic material applications
Nanofibrous layer
• Transportation
• Room acoustics
Substrate • Home appliances
• Industrial equipment
One or multiple layer
construction
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29. Nanofiber applications – Battery separators
Nanofiber separators characteristics
• Chemical stability
• Thermal stability
• Thickness
• Porosity (greater than 40%)
• Dimensional stability
• Pore and pore size distribution PVDF-HFP electrospun Conventional battery separator
• Tensile strength membrane
(Magnification 5000x)
(Magnification 5000x)
Battery with superior parameters
• Lower consumption of polymer material
due to lower basis weight of the membrane
• Significant increase of battery power density
• Higher charge and discharge rate
• Increase in battery life
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30. Nanofiber applications – Healthcare
Nanofiber benefits for WOUND CARE
• Promote healing
• Protection from infection
• Providing soft and moist environment
• Anti adhesive effect to the derma
• Ease pain
Nanofiber benefits for DRUG RELEASE
• Slower drug release over a longer period
• Reduction of the first pass effect
• Higher initial drug concentration
• Lower overall drug consumption
Nanofiber benefits for TISSUE
ENGINEERING
• Cell growth
• Proliferation
• Differentiation
• Ability to mimic the extracellular matrices
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31. Nanospider™ from Elmarco – Why
Why Nanospider™
• Industrial production ready, needle-free electrospinning equipment
• Complete line supply, including peripherals
• Operation-proven technology
Why Elmarco
• Cooperation with leading institutes developing polymer formulations
• Large R&D capacity for custom development (> 35 people)
• In-house sampling and testing capacity
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32. Elmarco - your partner for nanofiber technology
www.elmarco.com
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