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Abstract:
Pascal Couchepin reviewed ApNano's revolutionary commercial nanotechnology-based solid lubricant

Pascal Couchepin, Swiss Minister for Home Affairs (including Science) Visits ApNano Materials

Ness Ziona, Israel | September 19, 2005

Pascal Couchepin, Swiss Minister for Home Affairs (including Science), visited ApNano Materials' subsidiary, NanoMaterials, in Israel, with a delegation of leading figures from Swiss industry and academia.

Pascal Couchepin (left), Swiss Minister for Home Affairs (including Science), examines a mechanical part coated with NanoLub, the world's first commercial nanotechnology-based solid lubricant, during his visit at ApNano Materials. To his right are Dr. Menachem Genut - CEO of ApNano Materials, Mr. Aharon Feuerstein - Chairman and CFO of ApNano Materials, and Dr. Niles Fleischer - Vice President of Business Development and Product Development, ApNano Materials. Copyright © ApNano Materials
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Mr. Couchepin reviewed ApNano's revolutionary commercial nanotechnology-based solid lubricant – NanoLub, presented by ApNano executives: Mr. Aharon Feuerstein - Chairman and CFO, Dr. Menachem Genut – CEO, and Dr. Niles Fleischer, Vice President of Business Development and Product Development.

"I was impressed by ApNano Materials and I hope it will succeed because it will help humanity," said Mr. Couchepin.

NanoLub is based on ApNano's proprietary nanoparticles, which are nested spheres of special metal compounds termed inorganic fullerene-like nanostructures, or IF for short. Fullerenes are soccer ball-like clusters of atoms, named after R. Buckminster Fuller, architect of the geodesic dome designed for the 1967 Montreal World Exhibition. NanoLub lubricates by a special mechanism that can be considered as the rolling of millions of miniature ball bearings, thus greatly reducing friction and wear.

NanoLub has been found to be non-toxic in testing performed by European Commission certified laboratories. The acute oral toxicity tests and skin sensitization evaluations were performed on a voluntary basis in strict accordance with international OECD and Good Laboratory Practice standards. These findings clearly demonstrate that NanoLub fits definitions as a user-friendly clean material and can be used in a variety of consumer and industrial applications without special restrictions.

ApNano's nanoparticles are a result of a breakthrough work in nanotechnology done at the Weizmann Institute of Science by the group headed by Prof. Reshef Tenne, currently the Head of the Institute's Department of Materials and Interfaces. Dr. Menachem Genut, ApNano Materials' CEO was a research fellow in the original research group which discovered the IF nanoparticles at the Weizmann Institute and first to synthesize the new material.

Recently ApNano's nanoparticles were recognized as excellent shock absorbing materials and among the most impact resistant substances known in the world today. The experiments on the IF nanomaterials were carried out by a research group headed by Prof. Yan Qiu Zhu of the School of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, at the University of Nottingham, England. The results were published in in the June 2005 issue of the journal Advanced Materials. The IF nanomaterials have up to about twice the strength of the best impact resistant materials currently used in protective armor applications like boron carbide and silicon carbide, and are 4-5 times stronger than steel.

Recently ApNano Materials has been selected as a Top 100 Innovator by Red Herring.

The special properties of the IF nanostructures has attracted numerous interest from industry around the world. To date large quantity production of the IF has been achieved by the company at its facility in the Weizmann Science Park, Nes Ziona, Israel and work is underway for a scaled-up semi-commercial unit to product 100-200 kg/day which will be followed by a full industrial production facility to produce tons of material per day.

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About ApNano Materials:
ApNano Materials is a private nanotechnology company founded in 2002 by Dr. Menachem Genut, President and CEO and Mr Aharon Feuerstein, Chairman and CFO. ApNano Materials was incorporated in the US and is headquartered in New York, USA. Its fully-owned Israeli subsidiary - NanoMaterials, Ltd., is located in the high tech science park adjacent to the Weizmann Institute campus in Ness Ziona, Israel. The company was granted an exclusive license by Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd, the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, to manufacture, commercialize and sell a new class of nanomaterials based on inorganic compounds that were discovered at the Institute. The shareholders of ApNano Materials, besides the founders, are Newton Technology VC Fund, Yeda Research and Development Co. LTD. (the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science), AYYT Technological Applications and Date Update LTD. (the commercial arm of Holon Academic Institute of Technology, Israel), and private European investors.

NanoLub, a green, environmentally friendly material, is a trademark of ApNano Materials, Inc.

For more information, please visit www.apnano.com

Contact:
David Kanaan
Kanaan Public Relations
+972-3-5408188
david@kanaan.co.il

Copyright © ApNano Materials

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