By Marni Pyke
Daily Herald Staff Writer
www.dailyherald.com
Posted Thursday, April 12, 2007

A suburban company that’s a collaboration between Argonne National Laboratory and the private sector may be a hidden gem now but it has the potential to change lives, conserve energy and detect disease.

Tucked away in a Romeoville industrial side street, Advanced Diamond Technologies is proof the ivory tower and the real world can mesh, federal officials said Wednesday.

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, in Illinois for a meeting with national laboratory directors, toured the company with U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, a member of the House Science Committee.

“It represents the promise of moving technology from the lab to a commercial setting,” Bodman said.

Using methods developed at Argonne, located near Darien, ADT technicians create a product called the ultrananocrystalline diamond, the “nano” referring to a branch of science using minuscule materials.

The process involves heating hydrogen, methane and argon, an inert gas. The chemicals form carbon atoms that are placed on a silicone disk dusted with diamond powder. The various substances bond, forming a diamond film thinner than a human hair.

“It has all the characteristics of diamond,” said Argonne senior scientist Orlando Auciello, who helped found the Romeoville company.

Uses for the technology include cell phones, radar and more efficient seals for pumps used in manufacturing and industry that could save millions of dollars in energy costs.

Another aspect is creating an artificial retina, a tiny lens that could send visual signals to the brain for people with macular degeneration. That project is undergoing clinical trials.

Scientist also said they hope to create biosensors with the diamond film that could detect toxins in the air, such as anthrax.

Advanced Diamond Technologies started in 2003. It employs 10 people right now, but if some of the inventions, such as the pump seal, are successfully commercialized, the company expects to expand.

“The potential for growth is big,” Auciello said.

Biggert, a Hinsdale Republican, is sponsoring a bill that would give more funding to fledgling, research companies such as ADT.

“We face a world in which our economic competitors in Asia and Europe are making significant new investments in their own research capabilities,” she said.

Other spin-off companies resulting from Argonne technologies include Univa of Lisle, a software company, and Nanophase of Romeoville, which uses nanotechnology to develop a variety of products.