Meanwhile, the US Forest Service has been deriving cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp extract to create a material that's stronger than Kevlar and carbon fiber.
NanoScale was founded in 1995 with a grant from the U.S. Army Research Office, which wanted to use its nanocrystals to adsorb and destroy chemical warfare agents.
And Nucryst might apply its patented manufacturing process, which breaks the bulk silver down and then builds it back up atom by atom into silver nanocrystals, to other noble metals like gold and platinum for formulations to treat diseases as diverse as arthritis and cancer.