French company Nanoe has acquired the Upryze-Shock product line from ceramic manufacturer Saint-Gobain ZirPro. The agreement includes an exclusive license for the trademark and patent, a full technology transfer, and access to the existing customer base. Upryze-Shock is a zirconia-based ceramic powder developed specifically for applications requiring high mechanical shock and wear resistance.
Originally developed at Saint-Gobain’s R&D center in Provence, the material features an unusually high fracture toughness of 14 MPa·m^1/2—more than twice that of conventional yttria-stabilized zirconia—while maintaining a bending strength of 1000 MPa and a Vickers hardness of 12.5 GPa. Its composition combines ceria- and yttria-stabilized zirconia, reinforced with alumina platelets. Typical applications include wear- and shock-resistant tools such as welding locator pins and cutting tools, with potential use in medical devices and watch components.
Guillaume de Calan, CEO of Nanoe, said “ 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 specialty ceramic raw materials, with high- end, application specific materials at the heart of this strategy. This transition allows 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, explains the reason for such technology transfer: “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.”
For additive manufacturing, this acquisition opens new possibilities for processing advanced ceramics, particularly in producing functionally integrated and high-load components for industrial and medical applications.
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