Texas Firm Develops Technology for Producing Carbon Nanotubes

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Carbon Nanotechnologies Incorporated (CNI) (Houston, Texas) is making progress with development of a proprietary high-pressure process technology to produce commercial quantities of Buckytubes (single-wall carbon nanotubes). CNI currently has a pilot scale plant in operation located in a Houston technology complex owned by Halliburton KBR (Houston, Texas).

CNI is developing this nanotechnology with the intention of marketing its product to the electronics, aerospace, and composite materials industries as it has tremendous abilities to transmit electricity and thermal energy. Used in plastics, fibers and fabrics, buckytubes could allow producers to develop stronger materials for such things ranging from cars to electrical devices.

CNI anticipates that buckytubes will play a significant role in the use of nanotechnology and building the next generation of electronic components and materials with sizes equivalent to that of molecules.

Plans for a commercial scale plant to produce larger quantities of buckytubes is being considered and plant locations within a 50-mile radius of their current location are being considered. The new location will need access to established chemical infrastructures and feedstocks. A decision of how quickly to proceed with plans for the new plant and a potential location are expected during the first or second quarter of 2003.