Cooperative Agreement 70NANB22H133

The National Institute of Standards and Technology awarded Zymosense Inc. a $800,000 Cooperative Agreement under the Science, Technology, Business and/or Education Outreach federal grant program (CFDA 11.620) for the period of September 1, 2022 through August 31, 2024.

Under this award, Zymosense will optimize its automated pipetting screening tool for assessing single-walled carbon nanotube dispersion and separation processes. In Phase I, the company demonstrated the feasibility of using the tool to rapidly test 96 small ATP systems in parallel to map partition behavior at finer resolutions than possible manually. In Phase II, Zymosense will use the screening tool for customer-facing process optimization work, first testing improved separation quality and yield increases internally before licensing the methodology commercially to SWCNT manufacturers. The company also intends to provide a subaward of $TBD to the University of Iowa to receive training in machine learning and Bayesian optimization techniques to further enhance the screening tool. The work under this Cooperative Agreement aims to develop an additive SWCNT purification method with commercial applications for sensors, diagnostics and electronics.