Nanoe acquires Upryze-Shock ceramic powder line from Saint-Gobain ZirPro
Nanoe, based in Ballainvilliers, France, has announced the acquisition of the Upryze-Shock line of ceramic powder from Saint-Gobain ZirPro, based in Le Pontet, France. The deal includes technology transfer, a portfolio of existing customers, and an exclusive license on the associated patent and trademark.
Upryze-Shock is a line of ultra-high-toughness zirconia-based material developed by Saint-Gobain Research Provence R&D centre. It has applications in industrial tooling, especially shock- and wear-resistant tooling such as welding location pins, cutting tools, and other high-wear and shock applications. Other possible applications include medical devices and watch components.
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Upryze-Shock material is based on a ceria and yttria co-stabilised zirconia, reinforced with alumina in the form of platelets. It allows for a very high toughness compared to traditional yttria stabilised zirconia, with fracture toughness of 14 MPa.m1/2 compared to a usual value around 6 MPa.m1/2, while retaining good bending strength (1000 MPa 4-point bending strength) and hardness (12.5 GPa Vickers hardness), which was traditionally the drawback of ceria doped zirconia.
Guillaume de Calan, CEO of Nanoe, shared, “We’re very happy to be able to add Upryze-Shock material to our already extensive portfolio of high-performance alumina/zirconia composite powders. It will nicely complement our portfolio, and fits with our strategy of speciality ceramic raw materials, with highend, application specific materials at the heart of this strategy. This transition allows us to keep serving the already existing customer base of Saint-Gobain, and offer this new material to our customer base as well.”
Frederic Wiss, commercial director EMEA of Saint-Gobain ZirPro, explained, “While Upryze-Shock is technically a great product, it remains a niche material for very specific industries, and did not fit ZirPro strategy anymore. We therefore wanted to find a solution for our customers to avoid supply interruption, and are very happy to partner with Nanoe to avoid such interruption.”
The transition of production from Saint-Gobain facilities to Nanoe facilities was completed in 2024. From 2025 onwards, Upryze-Shock materials can be purchased directly from Nanoe.
