Nano titanium dioxide UV filter is the focus of new manufacturing agreement

Nanomateriales will take on a number of intellectual property rights as well as the production assets to allow it to manufacture the UV filter using Oklahoma-based NBMI’s technology.

While Nanomateriales will sell the filter to a number of cosmetics companies in South and Central America, NBMI, and its subsidiary XetaComp, will continue to work with the company to design pre-formulations that it will commercialise in North America and globally.

In addition, NBMI president Charles Seeney explained the company would also be working on finished sunscreen formulations, again through its subsidiary XetaComp.

Explaining the reasons behind the agreement, Seeney told CosmeticsDesign.com USA that NBMI is a medical device R&D company with the objective of designing nano tools for medical uses.

“We have a nano processing technology that is very unique in producing a nanoparticle sunscreen…but not being a sunscreen company we decided to license it first to our subsidiary XetaComp, and in turn to license it, plus some IP, to Nanomateriales in Mexico who will be specialising in this,”​ he said.

Unique technology platform​

According to Seeney, the technology platform is unique in that it produces nanoparticles of titanium dioxide that are less prone to agglomerate together, and that are less photoactive.

“One of the basic features of nanoparticles, is their tendency to agglomerate, there are a number of companies who believe that they are selling nano material when in fact they are selling agglomerate materials, the particle may be nano in scale, but in agglomerate can be a lot larger,”​ he said.

Seeney claims NBMI’s technology can produce a high solid (up to 50 per cent) material which helps avoid the agglomerating issue.

In addition, he said a nanoscale reduction surface treatment also helped eliminate the photo activity of the titanium dioxide.

“This makes a material that provides not only good protection it is also clear,”​ he added.