The grant, awarded as part of an energy and water appropriations bill in the House of Representatives, will aid NanoDynamics in developing a fuel cell to keep water treatment plants running in the case of a power outage.

Methane gas, the cell's power source, is a common waste product of water treatment plants.

"This gives us the opportunity to accelerate the programs we're on and to get into methane," NanoDynamics President Richard Berger said.

The grant will also allow the company to add 5-10 engineers to the 60-person company.

Founded in 2002, NanoDynamics specializes in the production of materials at the near-atomic level. Its products include industrial powders and carbons. NanoDymanics is also working on the design of a new golf ball known as "NDMX".