"Even though single-wall carbon nanotubes have become somewhat of a gold standard product, the properties of double-wall carbon nanotubes can make them very interesting for certain applications," said Rick Smalley, chairman of CNI and University Professor at Rice University.

CNI began supplying single-wall carbon nanotubes on a developmental basis in 2000 when the company was formed and has expanded that capability in subsequent years. As CNI worked with its more than 500 customers, it became apparent that other small-diameter carbon nanotubes have certain advantages for specific end uses. As a result, CNI has tailored its production capability and broadened its product slate to include double-wall carbon nanotubes and varying mixtures containing single-wall and double-wall nanotubes. CNI produces a wide array of small-diameter carbon nanotube products and can now provide double-wall carbon nanotubes in gram to multiple kilogram quantities. CNI's entire product catalog can be viewed at http://www.cnanotech.com/pages/store/6-0_online_store.html.

"Although double-wall carbon nanotubes can be produced by a variety of process routes, the preferred route is thought to be growth on supported catalyst. Rick Smalley's research in 1998 demonstrated catalysts and conditions and has become the basis of CNI's effort to scale-up the production of double-wall carbon nanotube products," said Bob Gower, president and CEO of CNI.

One unique property of single-wall and double-wall carbon nanotubes is their ability to self-assemble into ropes. Similar to other polymeric materials, these ropes can have crystalline, semi-crystalline and amorphous regions. The ability to control these rope structures is an attribute that customers are recognizing as important for their applications. The ability to tailor diameters and create mixed morphologies substantially broadens the property envelope of small-diameter carbon nanotubes, which can be viewed as nested single-wall nanotubes. For example, a single-wall carbon nanotube having a diameter of 2 nanometers will be less stiff than a double-wall nanotube of the same diameter. Furthermore, the outer tube of a double-wall nanotube can be functionalized, leaving the inner tube pristine.

Small-diameter carbon nanotubes are an example of a nanotechnology that is now reaching the commercial arena. These nanostructures comprise large molecules of carbon, cylindrical in form, about 1-3 nanometers (billionths of a meter) in diameter, and hundreds to thousands of nanometers long. As individual molecules, single-wall carbon nanotubes have a tensile strength that is 100 times that of high-strength steel at about one-sixth the density of steel. They conduct electricity and heat extremely well, and many believe that they represent the next revolution in polymer technology.

CNI has over 100 patents and patent applications issued or in various stages of prosecution. About 1200 patent claims have issued thus far, and the pending patents include an additional about 4000 claims. This patent portfolio includes about 650 composition of matter claims, more than 40 of which have been issued or allowed to date.

The company has more than 500 customers worldwide and has an exclusive relationship with Sumitomo Corporation for marketing and distribution of CNI products in Japan.

Contact:
CNI
Tom Pitstick, 281-492-5884
tpitstick@cnanotech.com
or
Sumitomo
Nobuo Aoki, +81 (3) 51664535
nobuo.aoki@em.sumitomocorp.co.jp

Source: Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc. (CNI)