Bayer MaterialScience recently announced it has created a more economical process for making high-quality carbon nanotubes for a wide variety of applications on an industrial scale. With plans to market the nano-sized materials worldwide under the trade name Baytubes, Bayer says it can reach consistent material purity of more than 99% with the new process for the first time. Where will these nanotubes go?

Martin Schmid, head of the Carbon Nanotubes project at Bayer MaterialScience, says, “Adding just small quantities can make a plastic car fender so electrically conductive that it can be painted without any further pretreatment, using environmentally friendly waterborne or powder coatings. In a similar manner, we can make films for antistatic packaging materials, such as those used for sophisticated electronic components.”

The company adds that electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding of computer and mobile telephone housings are another potential application; future plans are to use the nanotubes to improve thermal conductivity of ceramic components in turbines.