Northwestern spinout lands Army contract, plans factory

NuMat spun out of Northwestern University five years ago with an intriguing promise: using chemistry to rearrange metal atoms to form complex spongelike materials for holding gases that previously had to be stored under pressure or at low temperatures.

The same metal-organic framework, or MOF, technology can help separate gases, which interests the military. The U.S. Army’s chemical and biological center for R&D awarded NuMat a $9 million contract to develop equipment for toxic industrial chemical filtration, purification and abatement, which could include next-generation gas masks or breathing equipment. The company's nanotechnology, in which organic compounds combined with metal atoms basically self-assemble the sponge-like structure that would be difficult to manufacture using traditional methods, has been attracting attention and money for several years.