In addition to SRI International, Facilichem is co-founded by Spectrum Laboratories, Inc. (Laguna Hills, Calif.), EPRI (Palo Alto, Calif.) and Edison Technology Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of Edison International (Irwindale, Calif.).

"SRI International is committed to bringing new technologies to market through licensing opportunities, strategic technology partnerships and spin-off companies. The formation of Facilichem by SRI and its partners demonstrates one highly effective approach for moving novel technology with significant market potential from the laboratory to the marketplace," said Daniel W. Morris, director of licensing and business development at SRI.

Stable Liquid Membranes Provide Leading-Edge Purification for Broad Industry Use

Liquid membranes present a promising means by which companies can reduce the costs of separating and purifying gases and liquids. The process involves holding the material to be purified in one chamber while a liquid separating agent is held in another. The highly selective separating agent allows only the purified material to pass through. This method is highly effective in processing specialty chemicals for the food, agricultural, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and for processing industrial gases, industrial waste and wastewater.

Historically, the major drawback of liquid membrane separation has been the short lifetime and insufficient endurance for commercial-scale industrial use. Invented by Bhown during his tenure at SRI International, Facilichem's FaciliMax system provides unique access to the liquid membrane compartment, enabling constant replenishment of the separation agent to provide an economically feasible purification process.

Facilichem to Remove Adoption Barriers for Stable Liquid Membrane Technique

"Despite thirty years of research, the structure for liquid membrane systems has not been sufficiently stable for widespread industrial use, a fact that has hindered its adoption," said Bhown. "In that light, Facilichem's three-fold mission will be to investigate methods by which these membranes can be made stable, advance the technology such that the membranes are thinner and more efficient and, finally, to commercialize and market the technology to a broad range of industrial applications."

The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently awarded Facilichem a two-year, $2 million grant to further develop, build, scale-up and demonstrate the FaciliMax device. During the next two years, Facilichem will also seek and partner with additional companies interested in specific commercial applications.

About the Founding Companies

Silicon Valley-based SRI International is one of the world's largest independent research, technology development and consulting organizations. Founded in 1946 as the Stanford Research Institute, SRI has been meeting the needs of strategic, global markets for more than 50 years. As part of its strategy to bring its technologies to the marketplace, SRI licenses technologies, forms strategic technology partnerships and creates spin-off companies.

EPRI, established in 1973 and headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., manages science and technology for the energy and energy services industry worldwide.

Edison Technology Solutions (ETS), a non-regulated affiliate of Edison International, develops and commercializes new technologies, products, and services to meet the needs of the emerging energy and electricity markets. ETS' expertise includes grid reliability, distributed generation, renewables, and customer electrotechnologies. ETS' customer electrotechnology strategy is to provide technology solutions to meet market and operational needs of end-use customers.

Spectrum Laboratories Inc., headquartered in Laguna Hills, CA., develops and manufactures proprietary laboratory products, hollow fiber separation membranes and systems, and cell culture devices that are used extensively in the pharmaceutical industry, universities and research organizations around the world.

FaciliMax is a trademark of Facilichem, Inc.

Visit SRI on the web at http://www.sri.com/