Description of Business	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018
Description Of Business
Description of Business	(2) Description of Business Nanophase is a leader in advanced materials technologies, with its primary strategic focus being in developing and providing engineered solutions for various applications of micromaterials (“nano” and “non-nano” in scale) for use in protecting human skin from the harmful and damaging effects of the sun. We also produce a variety of materials for use in diverse markets other than those using our materials as active ingredients for sun protection. These other markets include: industrial coatings applications, abrasion-resistant additives, medical diagnostics, and a variety of surface finishing (polishing) applications, including optics. We have expanded our offerings beyond active ingredients to include targeted full formulations of skin care products, marketed and sold by our wholly-owned subsidiary, Solésence®, LLC. We target markets in which we believe practical solutions may be found using our products. We work closely with current and potential customers in these target markets to identify their material and performance requirements and market our advanced materials to various end-use applications manufacturers, and our Solésence® solutions to cosmetics and skin care brands. Recently developed technologies have made certain new products possible and opened potential new markets. During 2015 we were granted a patent on a new type of particle surface treatment (coating), which became the cornerstone of our new product development in personal care, with first revenue recognized during 2016. In addition, through the creation of our Solésence®, LLC subsidiary, we utilize this particle surface treatment to manufacture and sell fully developed solutions to targeted customers in the cosmetics and skin care industry, in addition to the additives we have traditionally sold in the personal care area. Although our primary strategic focus has been the North American market, we currently sell material to customers overseas and have been working to expand our reach within foreign markets. The Company was incorporated in Illinois on November 25, 1989 and became a Delaware corporation during November 1997. Our common stock trades on the OTCQB marketplace under the symbol NANX. While product sales comprise the majority of our revenue, we also recognize revenue from other sources from time to time. These activities are not expected to drive the long-term growth of the business. For this reason, we classify such revenue as “other revenue” in our Statements of Operations, as it does not represent revenue directly from our materials or fully formulated products.

Description of Business

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

(2) Description of Business

Nanophase is a leader in advanced materials technologies, with its primary strategic focus being in developing and providing engineered solutions for various applications of micromaterials (“nano” and “non-nano” in scale) for use in protecting human skin from the harmful and damaging effects of the sun. We also produce a variety of materials for use in diverse markets other than those using our materials as active ingredients for sun protection. These other markets include: industrial coatings applications, abrasion-resistant additives, medical diagnostics, and a variety of surface finishing (polishing) applications, including optics. We have expanded our offerings beyond active ingredients to include targeted full formulations of skin care products, marketed and sold by our wholly-owned subsidiary, Solésence®, LLC.

We target markets in which we believe practical solutions may be found using our products. We work closely with current and potential customers in these target markets to identify their material and performance requirements and market our advanced materials to various end-use applications manufacturers, and our Solésence® solutions to cosmetics and skin care brands. Recently developed technologies have made certain new products possible and opened potential new markets. During 2015 we were granted a patent on a new type of particle surface treatment (coating), which became the cornerstone of our new product development in personal care, with first revenue recognized during 2016. In addition, through the creation of our Solésence®, LLC subsidiary, we utilize this particle surface treatment to manufacture and sell fully developed solutions to targeted customers in the cosmetics and skin care industry, in addition to the additives we have traditionally sold in the personal care area.

Although our primary strategic focus has been the North American market, we currently sell material to customers overseas and have been working to expand our reach within foreign markets. The Company was incorporated in Illinois on November 25, 1989 and became a Delaware corporation during November 1997. Our common stock trades on the OTCQB marketplace under the symbol NANX.

While product sales comprise the majority of our revenue, we also recognize revenue from other sources from time to time. These activities are not expected to drive the long-term growth of the business. For this reason, we classify such revenue as “other revenue” in our Statements of Operations, as it does not represent revenue directly from our materials or fully formulated products.