Imagine something so small it is dwarfed by the width of a single strand of human hair! Yet, despite its diminutive nature, it can add incredible strength. And that strength can be utilized by companies building everything from batteries to airplanes.

It is a new type of nanoparticle, and it was a chance meeting between Lansing entrepreneur Michael Knox and a world-renowned scientist that led to a new marketing venture for the invention.

The term nanoparticle is widely used to describe an extremely small particle the size of which is best expressed in nanometers, so says Scott Murray, vice president of operations for XG Sciences, Inc.

“A nanometer is about one-fifty-thousandth of the size of a typical hair.” He adds that it’s a new type of material made from graphite that is incredibly thin, and when added to other materials like plastic, can make them stronger. The materials XG makes are called platelets. “You can picture them like you would a dinner plate,” says Murray. “Our plates, however, have a thickness of 6 to 20 nanometers with a diameter that is 500 to 1,000 times larger.”

Mike Knox, CEO of XG Sciences, says the invention came from the research of Michigan State University’s Dr. Lawrence Drzal. “He had worked with it and was eager to see the material commercialized but wasn’t sure how to do that.”

Knox, successful in his own right as an entrepreneur, owning and operating five businesses in the last quarter century, was looking for a new challenge after selling his last company in 2005. He says he and Drzal discussed possible uses for the material, then decided to forge an agreement to work together. “We provide the ingredient, so to speak, and somebody else is the chef,” Knox jokes.

The trade designation for the material is xGnP brand graphene nanoplatelets. Knox says the uses are many and several companies have expressed interest in learning more, like Boeing in aeronautics and the automobile industry. “It can make electrodes for batteries that would give them greater capacity and make them lighter in weight with the ability to charge faster. They also can make lighter and stronger materials used to make car bumpers, hoods and door panels.”

With the push these days for lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles, Knox believes auto manufacturers could be a big customer. The United States Department of Defense is also showing interest in the material.

XG Sciences, Inc. is headquartered in East Lansing with a factory in south Lansing. The 7,000-square-foot pilot production facility—once operating with little more than some beakers and test tubes—has evolved into a full industrial setting with a series of mechanical, chemical, thermal and sonic equipment used in the processing of the platelets. They designed and built a production line to meet their current customer requirements.

Despite the technology upgrades, Knox says more room is needed. “At our current location we can make pounds of the material which we’ve sold to more than 100 companies all over the world. We expect commercial orders to be for tons of the material.”

Knox says the plan for the coming year is to find a facility that would be at least seven times larger, allowing for the increase in commercial orders they anticipate. He says the business climate, though, has been very challenging for the last year. “There was no financing available with few resources. We would have been larger already if we’d been able to acquire financing sooner.”

Knox says he is in negotiations with those he refers to as far-sighted, shrewd individuals. “All of our funding is investment capital from individuals mostly from Lansing, but all from Michigan.” He is hoping as well, though, for a thaw of the financial markets in the near future. While the making of the nanoplatelets is a costly process, Murray says the venture is a win for all involved. “We are using homegrown technology conceived right here in Michigan State University’s engineering research departments and we’re helping to maintain Michigan’s image as a manufacturing state, complete with smokestacks and auto assembly lines.”

It was Knox’s wife who brought him to Michigan when she took a job at MSU 12 years ago. While he has run businesses, ranging from software to manufacturing in Minnesota, and Tennessee, Knox says he is here to stay. “I’ve been successful in my other endeavors, selling them all to larger companies. I think I can do the same here despite the challenges,” he predicts.

But Knox admits the economy is creating some very different circumstances. “My companies were similar to the extent that they all involved new technology—or commercializing new technology—but the similarities end there.”

He thanks the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Michigan State University for their continued support and is looking forward to a long relationship. “It’s definitely going to be more of a battle for success this time around. Luckily the cutting edge technology we’re producing can speak for itself.”