June 26, 2007 — Hybrid Plastics Inc., Hattiesburg, Miss, has received a $5,600,000 facilitization contract, under Title III of the Defense Production Act, to ensure adequate production capability for its award-winning POSS nanostructured chemicals for defense and commercial applications.

According to the company, POSS [Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes] nanomaterials represent a revolutionary platform technology with a wide spectrum of applications. The U.S. Air Force recently stated that “POSS polymers may soon replace Kapton for all military and commercial space applications.”
Senators Cochran and Lott worked to get the support of Title III of the Defense Production Act for this initiative. This Title III funding will significantly increase Hybrid’s defense production capacity. Senator Cochran commented, “In 2004, Hybrid Plastics chose to move from California to South Mississippi to take advantage of the cutting-edge polymer research that is taking place in our state. This funding will enable Hybrid Plastics to continue its efforts to enhance our defense capabilities.”

POSS is based on silicon-derived building blocks that provide nanometer-scale control to improve the thermal and mechanical properties of traditional polymers while promising easy incorporation using existing manufacturing protocols. These compounds have an average diameter of 1.5 nanometers. POSS nanomaterials can be used both as direct replacements for hydrocarbon based materials or as low-density performance additives to traditional plastics. They release no VOCs, and are biocompatible, recyclable, non-flammable, and competitively priced with traditional polymer feedstocks. The company says POSS materials can be readily incorporated into virtually any existing polymer system through blending, grafting or copolymerization.