Workshop II Nanomaterials Surfaces and Layers Commercialising Carbon Nanotubes Harry Swan, Carbon Nanomaterials Business Manager, Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd.
Introduction Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. Carbon Nanotubes Commercial Production Applications & Markets Challenges Ahead
Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. One of the UK s leading independent performance chemical manufacturers Founded in 1926 Consett Tommy Swan Head Quarters
Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. Group Structure Organic Specialities (Leicester, UK) Photonics (Cambridge, UK) Thomas Swan & Co. Chemicals (Consett, UK) Screen Technology Ltd. (Cambridge, UK) Swan Chemical Inc. Lyndhurst, NJ USA BioDynamics Research (Rushden, UK)
Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. Chemical Manufacturing Thomas Swan & Co. Chemicals (Consett, UK) Performance Chemicals Pigments Supercritical Technology Carbon Nanomaterials
Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. Chemical Business Statistics Turnover 23M 2003/2004 People 185 Employees in Chemical Business (Consett) Balance Sheet Net Assets 20M Production 70% of turnover is own product sales, the remainder is contract & toll manufacture
Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. Contract Manufacturing Facilities: Approx 55 multipurpose and dedicated reactors From 500-20,000 litres capacity Pilot facilities to 200 litres, including equipment such as WPE Glycol cooling, hot oil and/or steam available Solids Handling Equipment Centrifuges and multiple dryer types (including pressure / filter, rotary vacuum, fluidized bed) Grinding and Milling Emphasis on QA Systems and Environmental Management ISO 9001, ISO 14001, Responsible Care and Others
Carbon Nanotubes Why Carbon Nanotubes? A remarkable material Growing demand Single and multi-wall Raw material supplier Pilot scale production
Carbon Nanotubes The Theoretical Potential Structural Electrical Thermal Tensile Strength 50-100 GPa Modulus of ~1 TPa Potentially Ballistic Better conductivity than copper +2000 W/mK Better conductivity than diamond
Commercial Production Application Time Line Discovery Commercial Production Integrated Commercial Applications Time Research 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Academic Production Application Opening the door to commercial research & product development
Commercial Production Application Supply Chain COST / PERFORMANCE BALANCE Nanotube Manufacture Dispersion Pre-Fabrication Product Assembly ANALYTICAL STANDARDS
Commercial Production Nanotube Manufacture Method of Production Laser Ablation Arc Discharge Tube Type MWNTs SWNTs High purity / Low quantity Chemical Vapour Deposition Both Good purity / Large quantities
Commercial Production CVD Pilot Scale Synthesis Cambridge University s academic expertise with Thomas Swan s industrial experience Consistent quality product in commercial quantities A scalable commercial process Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd.
Cambridge University Team
Commercial Production Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SEM)
Commercial Production Single-wall carbon nanotubes (TEM)
Commercial Production Single-wall carbon nanotubes (Raman)
Commercial Production Multi-wall carbon nanotubes (SEM)
Commercial Production Multi-wall carbon nanotubes (TEM)
Commercial Production Multi-wall carbon nanotubes (Raman) Intensity (a.u.) 100 500 900 1300 1700 2100 2500 2900 Raman Wavenumber (cm -1 )
Commercial Production Analysis Quality Control (Elicarb SW) Provisional Specification Typical Result Mg (Atomic Absorption) <1% 0.04% Fe (Atomic Absorption) <3% 2.8% Ash <10% 5% Visual (TEM) Good Good Visual (SEM) Good Good % Defaults (Raman) <0.2% 0.05%
Commercial Production Single-wall carbon nanotubes A new raw material with numerous applications for a wide variety of industries
Commercial Production Pricing Structure Elicarb SW High-purity single-wall carbon nanotubes: 1g to 10g 200/g $360/g 300/g 10g to 100g 150/g $270/g 230/g 100g to 1kg 100/g $180/g 150/g But we want to work towards 10 s /kg for single-wall. Elicarb MW High-purity multi-wall carbon nanotubes: 5g to 100g 50/g $90/g 70/g 100g to 500g 30/g $55/g 40/g 500g to 1kg 20/g $36/g 30/g
Applications Advanced Composites Electronics Print, Paper Packaging Carbon Nanotubes Fuel Cells Advanced Tyre Systems Energy Storage
Applications Epoxy Systems Strength Enhancement Tensile strength of a single SWCNT ~ 50-100 GPa Modulus of 1-2 TPa Problems transferring this to the matrix Functionalise (Acid treatment / addition of a hydroxyl group) Disperse 30% increase in modulus 18% increase in tensile strength 5 to 10 X greater than steel at 1/6 th the weight (Zhu et al Nano Letters 2003 Vol.3 No. 8 1107-1113)
Applications Epoxy Systems - Electrical Percolation Strength with conductivity High aspect ratio allows lower loading than conventional carbon systems Percolating matrix achieved with 0.005 wt% CNTs Currently being used for electrostatic spray painting (automotive) SWCNT films provide better transparency Typical commercial loadings ~ 1.5 to 4.5 wt% loading (Sandler et al. Polymer 44 (2003) 5893-5899)
Challenges Consistency in Supply Establish industry-wide analytical protocol Make to Specification Controlled Price Reduction New Production Methods Performance Data! Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd.
Why Choose Thomas Swan? 77 years of chemical manufacturing experience No downstream IP constraints Emphasis on quality and consistency Ability to adapt and grow with the market No hype what you see is what you get!
Thank You! Harry Swan Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd., Crookhall Consett County Durham DH8 7ND UK Tel: +44 (0)1207 505 131 Email: hswan@thomas-swan.co.uk