Having developed large scale production capacity during 2010-2012, carbon nanotube (CNT) suppliers, such as Hodogaya, Toray, Hanwha Chemicals, Cnano, Applied Carbon Technology (ACN), Nanocyl, Arkema, Future Carbon and Bayer, have placed more efforts in application development (see Fig.1). Instead of supplying CNT powders, more players are supplying optimized masterbatch, dispersion and fabrics to save the customers time in product development and speed up the industry adoption.

In addition, with the price of CNTs, especially MWCNTs significantly reduced these days, we also see a trend that some small and medium size companies buying CNTs and developing CNT enhanced composite materials instead of producing CNTs by themselves. Although applications in conductive plastics continue to dominate the nano carbon market, more players are working on the applications of nano carbon materials for battery electrodes, heating elements, heat sinks, high-end fishing rods/sporting goods, tires and parts with light-weight & strength.

Japanese researchers from TASC (Technology Research Association for SWCNT) and Shizuoka University have developed CNT fibers acting as conductive and super strong thread, which could be as long as 20 meters and could replace Cu wires in the future.

CNT enhanced composites excel in light-weight and improved mechanical strength, being ramped-up for use in sporting goods, automotive and aerospace industries (see Fig.1). Zycraft (www.zycraft.com) launched in Singapore in Jan. 2013, two ultra-high performance boats, named Nimble Cheetah and Nimble Leopard, which are the first long range vessels (LRVs) made of nano-composites by its sister company, Zyvex Technologies (www.zyvextech.com) (the world is first molecular nanotechnology company specializes in processing nano carbon materials). These advanced LRV are designed for fuel efficiency and rough sea stabilization with a sprint speed over 40 knots and a range of over 1,500 nautical miles, more than three times the range of comparatively sized vessels. Korean companies such as Hanwha Chemical and ACN are working with their partners in developing and testing the CNT enhanced composites for the automotive industries. Currently the high price of these products are due to the high development costs and manufacturing costs. Especially for the automotive and aerospace applications, with their long evaluation and testing cycles, the speed to market is severely limited, although it is true for all the emerging technologies.

We have observed the acceleration of adoption of nano carbon materials in various industries. There just needs to be more development support for users to adopt nano carbon so that the markets ramp-up to a critical mass. That ramp-up will likely be in Asia.