OREANDA-NEWS. January 31, 2012. Nanotech-Dubna, a project company established with co-investment from RUSNANO, today commissioned its first production line for high-technology synthesis of colloidal quantum dots. Among those taking part in ceremonies marking the opening of new facilities were RUSNANO Managing Director Dmitry Pimkin and Nanotech-Dubna General Manager Maxim Wakstein.

The project has a budget of 71.5 million rubles of which RUSNANO co-invested 35 million rubles. The other co-investor in the project is NIIPA, an enterprise within the jurisdiction of the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control of Russia. Capacity in this new line will boost quantum dot production of the enterprise to 10 kilograms per year. Nanotech-Dubna’s earnings in 2012 are forecasted at 32 million rubles. Management plans to increase production to 100 kilograms per year over the next few years.

Quantum dots get most of their use in a new generation of luminescent materials for white LEDs. They have application for markers in luminescent additives, for example, to protect marketable securities against forgery. Quantum dots are also used for various biochemical and biomedical research, including multi-color imaging of biological objects (viruses, organelles, cells, tissue) in vitro and in vivo; multi-channel optical coding, such as flow cytometry and high-performance analysis of proteins and nucleic acids; studying the spatial and temporal distribution of biomolecules using confocal microscopy; immunoassay studies; in situ diagnosis of cancer markers and other applications.

“Luminophores based on quantum dots are more effective in casting rays and more resistant to aggressive factors in the environment. Moreover, our products are significantly less expensive than analogous dots produced in the US and Europe,” said Maxim Wakstein, general director of Nanotech-Dubna, during the opening ceremony.

“This project is unusual for RUSNANO. The size of our investment is typically much greater. Because the market niche for quantum dots is in its infancy and worldwide there are only around ten producers, we decided to invest in a unique Russian producer, to give that company a chance to take a leadership position in the segment,” explained RUSNANO Managing Director Dmitry Pimkin.