Nanocomp
Technologies, Inc., a developer of next-generation performance
materials, today announced it has successfully produced 3-foot by
6-foot sheets of carbon nanotube material. This significant
production milestone, the result of the company
s
ongoing investment in nanotube growth technology and manufacturing
capacity, gives Nanocomp the ability to generate the largest
cohesive sheets of nanotube material ever produced.
At the core of Nanocomp
s process is a
breakthrough technology for continuous, high-volume output of
millimeter-long, highly pure carbon nanotubes that efficiently
conduct both heat and electricity. By bringing this technology to
practice using proven, scalable industrial processes, Nanocomp can
now produce sheets of material at contiguous sizes of tens of square
feet.
Nanocomp
s materials possess a unique
combination of high strength-to-weight ratio, electrical and thermal
conductivity, as well as flame resistance that exceeds those of many
other advanced materials by orders of magnitude. The resulting
material can be a valuable addition to such applications such as
electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, electrical conductors,
thermal dissipation solutions, lightning protection and advanced
structural composites.
In contrast to Nanocomp
s
millimeter-long nanotubes, other carbon nanotubes are short
tens
of microns long
and are usually delivered
in powder form. Short nanotubes have limited industrial use because
they are difficult to incorporate into existing manufacturing
processes and do not possess the high performance properties of long
carbon nanotubes.
Nanocomp
Technologies has made the crucial growth step moving from
research to production with the implementation of aggressively
scaled up operations to allow production of the world
s
largest sheets of carbon nanotube material,
said Peter Antoinette, president and CEO of Nanocomp.
This process forms the basis for our
strategy to produce value-added CNT components from unique
nanomaterials. We
re gratified at the
reception our materials have received from major industrial
companies. We believe today
s news and
proof of our ability to scale up and deliver increasingly larger
volumes will be of even greater interest to Nanocomp
s
prospective customers and strategic partners.
Mark Banash, Nanocomp
s vice president
of engineering, said:
The goal of our
manufacturing scale-up has been to product ultra-pure material in
increasing quantities, with consistency and reliability utilizing a
fully automated process that doesn
t
require a Ph.D. to operate. We
re
confident that we
re going to be in a
position to offer the volume, material formats and quality that
players across many industrial markets need. By continually
improving the economics and performance characteristics of our
products, we think Nanocomp is the first company that
s
going to deliver on the promise of carbon nanotube technology.
About Nanocomp Technologies, Inc.
Nanocomp Technologies, Inc. (NCTI) was formed in 2004 to leverage
its proprietary and fundamental advancements in the production of
long carbon nanotubes as well as a unique ability to fabricate them
into physically strong, lightweight and electro-thermally conductive
yarns and nonwoven sheets. The company
s
objective is to develop products with revolutionary performance
benefits that would create a new generation of advanced structural
materials and electro-thermal devices. It has eight patents pending.
The company is headquartered in Concord, N.H.
Nanocomp and the Nanocomp logo are trademarks of Nanocomp
Technologies, Inc. All other marks are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective holders.