Liberating the Nanotube: From Lab to Large Scale Production HVM MNT Expo 2006 - Cambridge 11 December Russell Clarke Carbon Nanomaterials Business Manager Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd.
Introduction Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. CNT Development Challenges Quality and Safety Applications & Markets 2
Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. One of the UK s leading independent performance chemical manufacturers Founded in 1926 Consett Tommy Swan Head Quarters 3
Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. Chemical Manufacturing Since 1926 4
Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. Chemical Manufacturing Colours Powder Coating Additives Rubber Chemicals Carbon Nanomaterials Ink Resins Personal Care Biocides Custom Manufacture Supercritical Processing 5
Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. Chemical Business Statistics Turnover: 21M (2004/2005) People: ~165 Employees Production: 70% turnover own product sales 30% contract & toll manufacture Products: Over 100 products sold worldwide 6
Carbon Nanotube Development Why Carbon Nanotubes? A remarkable material Growing demand Single and multi-wall Raw material supplier Pilot scale production 7
Carbon Nanotube Development Our Vision: To develop a scalable manufacturing process for high-purity single and multi-wall carbon nanotubes of consistent quality at an accessible price thereby allowing meaningful industrial evaluation and application development. i.e. Build a Pilot Plant! 8
Carbon Nanotube Development Application Time Line Commercial Production Discovery Time Research 1990 1995 Academic 2000 Integrated Commercial Applications 2005 Production 2010 Application Opening the door to commercial research & product development 9
Carbon Nanotube Development Application Supply Chain COST / PERFORMANCE BALANCE Nanotube Manufacture Dispersion Pre-Fabrication Product Assembly HEALTH & SAFETY, ANALYTICAL & QC STANDARDS 10
Commercial Production Nanotube Manufacture Method of Production Tube Type Laser Ablation MWNTs High purity / Low quantity Arc Discharge SWNTs Chemical Vapour Deposition Both Good purity / Scalable 11
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 12
Commercial Production Cambridge University Team 13
Commercial Production Product Name Product Reference Description Price Elicarb SW (AQ) P920 Purified single-wall carbon nanotubes delivered as aqueous wet cake 1 to 10g 10 to 100g 100 to 1kg 200/g* 150/g* 100/g* Elicarb SW (IMS) P921 Purified single-wall carbon nanotubes delivered as IMS wet cake 1 to 10g 10 to 100g 100 to 1kg 200/g* 150/g* 100/g* Elicarb SW (Dry) P925 Purified single-wall carbon nanotubes delivered as dry powder 1 to 10g 10 to 100g 100 to 1kg 200/g 150/g 100/g Elicarb SW (Open) SP7288 Purified single-wall carbon nanotubes treated to open tube ends 400/g Elicarb MW (AQ) P936 Purified multi-wall carbon nanotubes delivered as aqueous wet cake 5 to 100g 50/g* 100 to 500g 30/g* 500 to 1kg 20/g* Elicarb MW (Dry) P940 Purified multi-wall carbon nanotubes delivered as dry powder 5 to 100g 50/g 100 to 500g 30/g 500 to 1kg 20/g *Equivalent Dry Mass 14
Commercial Production Single-wall carbon nanotubes Raman SEM TEM 15
Commercial Production Intensity (a.u.) Multi-wall carbon nanotubes 100 500 900 1300 1700 2100 2500 2900 Raman W avenumber (cm -1) Raman SEM TEM 16
Commercial Production Quality Control Over 80 years of Commercial Chemical Manufacturing Experience ISO 14001 and 9001 registration Major focus on consistency of production and purification Strict internal SOP from raw materials through to purification Close relationship with customers to develop desired specification 17
Commercial Production Quality Control (Elicarb SW) Analysis Provisional Specification Typical Result Mg (Atomic Absorption) <0.2 wt% ~0.01 wt% Fe (Atomic Absorption) <4 wt% ~1.5 wt% Ash <6 wt% ~4 wt% Visual (TEM) Good Good Visual (SEM) Good Good Raman G/D > 25 TGA April 2006 April 2006 18
Commercial Production Single-wall and Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotubes A new raw material with numerous applications for a wide variety of industries 19
Applications Advanced Composites Print, Paper Packaging Electronics Carbon Nanotubes Advanced Tyre Systems Fuel Cells Energy Storage 20
Product Development Oxford University Department of Inorganic Chemistry Post production processing (Open Tubes) Dispersion Purification Functionalisation Open Tubes (Washed in Uranyl Acetate. When imaged presence of crystals prove fill-ability ) 21
Challenges Consistency in Supply Establish industry-wide analytical protocol Make to Specification Controlled Price Reduction New Production Methods Performance Data 22
Thank You! Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd., Crookhall Consett County Durham DH8 7ND UK Swan Chemical Inc. 136 Ridge Road., 2nd Fl., Lyndhurst, New Jersey 07071 USA Tel: +44 (0)1207 505 131 Email: rclarke@thomas-swan.co.uk Tel: 201-729-1400 Email: swanchem@aol.com 23