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Good prospects for the future: Carbon nanotubes – a key technology
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Good prospects for the future:
Carbon nanotubes – a key technology
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| Launch of construction for the world’s biggest production facility for carbon nanotubes (CNT) in Leverkusen (from left): Michael Klefisch (Construction Planning), Dr. Ralph Weber (Head of Production), Roland Motzek (Project Manager), Dr. Josef Sanders (Plant Manager) and Dr. Dieter Zeitz (Plant Engineer) |
Bayer MaterialScience can now market its multi-wall carbon nanotubes known as Baytubes® in the United States as well, now that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted regulatory approval for the product. This significantly reinforces Bayer MaterialScience’s role as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of carbon nanotubes.
Baytubes® can be added to polymer matrices or metal systems as a modifier or filler to improve their mechanical strength and/or antistatic properties. The product’s applications include rotor blades for wind turbines along with sports equipment such as skis, hockey sticks, baseball bats and surfboards. Another application for nanotubes is the modification of light metals such as aluminum or magnesium. Martin Schmid, in charge of Baytubes® activities at Bayer MaterialScience in Leverkusen, views the EPA approval as a key milestone: “Now Bayer MaterialScience in the U.S. can take Baytubes® out of the lab and onto the market, working with our customers to develop new applications.”
World’s largest pilot facility for carbon nanotubes
The world’s largest pilot plant for carbon nanotubes is currently being built in the Leverkusen Chempark. Bayer MaterialScience is investing some €22 million in the facility, which will have a capacity of 200 tons per year. “We are investing in a key technology of the future that will open up a broad range of new applications for us,” explained Dr. Wolfgang Plischke, the member of the Bayer AG Board of Management responsible for Innovation, Technology and the Environment, at a press conference marking the start of construction.
The global market for carbon nanotubes is currently predicted to grow by 25 percent a year. Experts estimate that annual sales of these products will reach US$ 2 billion within about ten years. Bayer MaterialScience is one of the few companies that can produce carbon nanotubes of consistently high quality on an industrial scale.
The world’s largest pilot plant for carbon nanotubes is currently being built in the Leverkusen Chempark. Bayer MaterialScience is investing some €22 million in the facility, which will have a capacity of 200 tons per year. “We are investing in a key technology of the future that will open up a broad range of new applications for us,” explained Dr. Wolfgang Plischke, the member of the Bayer AG Board of Management responsible for Innovation, Technology and the Environment, at a press conference marking the start of construction.
The global market for carbon nanotubes is currently predicted to grow by 25 percent a year. Experts estimate that annual sales of these products will reach US$ 2 billion within about ten years. Bayer MaterialScience is one of the few companies that can produce carbon nanotubes of consistently high quality on an industrial scale.
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