Cnt | X-ON

Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) and their compounds exhibit extraordinary electrical properties for organic materials, and have a huge potential in electrical and electronic applications such as photovoltaics, sensors, semiconductor devices, displays, conductors, smart textiles and energy conversion devices (e.g., fuel cells, harvesters and batteries). Carbon nanotubes for electronics applications are still a strong focus for research and printable carbon nanotube inks are beginning to hit the market. CNTs are used for making transistors and are applied as conductive layers for the rapidly growing touch screen market. CNTs are considered a viable replacement for ITO transparent conductors in some applications. Fabricated as transparent conductive films (TCF), carbon nanotubes can potentially be used as a highly conductive, transparent and cost efficient alternative in flexible displays and touch screens, for instance. While the cost of carbon nanotubes was once prohibitive, it has been coming down in recent years as chemical companies build up manufacturing capacity reaching $10/m2 for film applications. Apart from TCF applications carbon nanotubes for thin-film batteries, supercapacitors and ultraconductive copper will reach a significant share of the overall market driving the further ramp-up of production capacity and with that cost reduction.