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What started as a project to develop a better toilet bowl cleaner produced a revolutionary way to use alkali metals.From pharmaceuticals to petrochemicals to hydrogen production,alkali metals have numerous potential applications;but only ifthere is a way to maintain their reactivity, while making them easy to transport and handle.Under normal conditions,they explode or catch fire in open air and in water.

By ionizing the metals inside a porous oxide (silica gel or alumina), SiGNa came up with an efficient method ofencapsulating the loose valence electron that makes these metals so unstable.What remains is an alkali metal oxide that is just as strong and reactive,but much safer in the open.With less volatility,there is less danger in shipping,storing and using the metals,thus lowering the associated costs.

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the first to benefit directly from SiGNa’s products.While alkali metals are used in the early stages of drug development to manipulate the chemicals into the products being synthesized,they are not used in actual production due to their volatility.Replacing the use ofthe alkalis requires the design ofa multiple step process,driving costs higher.With SiGNa’s reagents,there is no need to replace the usage ofthe alkali metals,lowering the development and production costs.

SiGNa is also shining a whole new light on an already bright technology:hydrogen fuel cells.A fuel cell consumes hydrogen and produces clean water as its only by-product.Sounds great,right? Two small problems: safely transferring hydrogen to the cell and efficiently storing it once it’s there.One derivation ofthe alkali metal-oxides SiGNa produces is benign in open air,but as soon as it comes in contact with water,it reacts and produces pure hydrogen gas.This process requires no catalyst,unlike the current borohydride fuel cell systems in development.SiGNa is currently working with a number offuel cell manufacturers to integrate this technology.Who knows,one day we might be fueling our cars with a box of powder from SiGNa and a garden hose.

SiGNa could also benefit the petroleum industry.Petrochemicals, specifically polymers,are generally constructed through anionic polymerization (adding an electron).Unfortunately,this is a complex process that requires working with very dangerous elements.SiGNa’s products maintain the reactivity needed to be effective,but in a much safer environment. This technology can also be used to pull impurities from crude oil.SiGNa’s products have proven highly efficient in cleansing petroleum ofsulfur and other agents.

Founded only eighteen months ago, SiGNa projects revenue of $100,000 by year-end,and its customer base is a who’s who ofthe global economy.Purchase orders have come in from ExxonMobil [XOM],Shell Chemical [RD] and Pfizer[PFE].DuPont[DD],SiGNa’s supplier ofalkali metals,and BASF[BF] have also established working relationships with Lefenfeld and his team.Sigma-Aldrich [SIAL] is distributing SiGNa’s products to research groups around the world,and using it for their own internal research.