June 8, 2005 – KN Platz Inc., a member of the Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. group of companies, has developed a device that can remove solids as small as 10nm dia. from waste liquids with high efficiency, according to Nikkei English News.

This device uses a column filled with the company’s proprietary catalyst. When waste liquid is poured through this column, the catalyst causes the nanoparticles to clump together into larger agglomerates that can then be removed using a standard filter. The process works without the need for a flocculating agent, and the device itself is relatively small in size.

As nanotechnology becomes more widespread for R&D and commercial uses, the problem of how to process waste liquids containing nanometer-size solids has become a subject of growing concern.

KN Platz intends to market its device to the semiconductor industry and to materials makers. The company has already supplied one system to the Consortium for Advanced Semiconductor Materials and Related Technologies, which is using it in its efforts to develop next-generation chips.