Significant Customers and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) Customer	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Number of major customers \| Customer	3
Accounts receivable	$ 507,000	$ 388,000
Customers One [Member]
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Accounts receivable	$ 0	$ 54,000
Customers One [Member] \| Customer Concentration Risk [Member] \| Sales [Member]
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from top customers	63.00%	72.00%
Customers Two [Member]
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Accounts receivable	$ 156,000	$ 0
Customers Two [Member] \| Customer Concentration Risk [Member] \| Sales [Member]
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from top customers	7.00%	1.00%
Customers Three [Member]
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Accounts receivable	$ 240,000	$ 0
Customers Three [Member] \| Customer Concentration Risk [Member] \| Sales [Member]
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from top customers	7.00%	6.00%
BASF [Member]
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Supply agreements with BASF Corporation	The financial condition covenants in one of our supply agreements with BASF "trigger" a technology transfer right (license and equipment sale at BASF's option) in the event (a) that earnings for the twelve month period ending with our most recently published quarterly financial statements are less than zero and our cash, cash equivalents and certain investments are less than $1 million, or (b) of an acceleration of any debt maturity having a principal amount of more than $10 million.
Minimum contractual covenant - net earnings previous twelve months	$ 0
Net book value equipment	115.00%
BASF [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Cash, cash equivalents and investments, maximum	$ 1,000,000
BASF [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Principal amount of debt on maturity, minimum	$ 10,000,000
Original book value of equipment, Minimum	30.00%

Minimum net earnings required to be realized under covenants found in a supply, purchase or debt contract

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Equipment sale to net book value percentage.

+ References

No definition available.

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Equipment sale to original book value percentage.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Represents number of significant customers.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount due from customers or clients, within one year of the balance sheet date (or the normal operating cycle, whichever is longer), for goods or services (including trade receivables) that have been delivered or sold in the normal course of business, reduced to the estimated net realizable fair value by an allowance established by the entity of the amount it deems uncertain of collection.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
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- Definition

Cash includes currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. It also includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits in that the customer may deposit additional funds at any time and effectively may withdraw funds at any time without prior notice or penalty. Cash equivalents, excluding items classified as marketable securities, include short-term, highly liquid Investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash, and so near their maturity that they present minimal risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Generally, only investments with original maturities of three months or less qualify under that definition. Original maturity means original maturity to the entity holding the investment. For example, both a three-month US Treasury bill and a three-year Treasury note purchased three months from maturity qualify as cash equivalents. However, a Treasury note purchased three years ago does not become a cash equivalent when its remaining maturity is three months. Short-term investments, exclusive of cash equivalents, generally consist of marketable securities intended to be sold within one year (or the normal operating cycle if longer) and may include trading securities, available-for-sale securities, or held-to-maturity securities (if maturing within one year), as applicable.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Cash Equivalents
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6507016

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- Definition

For an entity that discloses a concentration risk in relation to quantitative amount, which serves as the "benchmark" (or denominator) in the equation, this concept represents the concentration percentage derived from the division.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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- Definition

Amount of long-term debt before deduction of unamortized discount or premium. Includes, but is not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, commercial loans, mortgage loans, convertible debt, subordinated debt and other types of debt, with initial maturities beyond one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
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-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22)
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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Excluding long-term commitments, description of arrangements in which the entity must commit resources to supply goods or services to one or more customers, which may include identification of the goods or services to be furnished, identity of the buyer, pricing, effects on pricing (such as penalties) of failing to deliver minimum quantities required to be furnished, cancellation rights, and termination provisions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
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-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03.(a)(19))
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