Nanocomp Technologies will be supplying carbon nanotube yarn to replace copper in airplanes in 2014

Nanocomp Technologies (NTI) lightweight wiring, shielding, heating and composite structures enhance or replace heavier, more fatigue prone metal and composite elements to save hundreds of millions in fuel, while increasing structural, electrical and thermal performance. In INC Magazine, Nanocomp Technologies indicates that they will selling their carbon nanotube yarn (CTex) to airplane manufacturers in 2014 to replace copper wiring.

Nanocomp’s EMSHIELD sheet material was incorporated into the Juno spacecraft, launched on August 5, 2011, to provide protection against electrostatic discharge (ESD) as the spacecraft makes its way through space to Jupiter and is only one example of many anticipated program insertions for Nanocomp Technologies’ CNT materials.

In a recent Presidential Determination, Nanocomp’s CNT sheet and yarn material has been uniquely named to satisfy this critical gap, and the Company entered into a long-term lease on a 100,000 square foot, high-volume manufacturing facility in Merrimack, N.H., to meet projected production demand.

The U.S. Dept. of Defense recognizes that CNT materials are vital to several of its next generation platforms and components, including lightweight body and vehicle armor with superior strength, improved structural components for satellites and aircraft, enhanced shielding on a broad array of military systems from electromagnetic interference (EMI) and directed energy, and lightweight cable and wiring. The Company’s CTex™ CNT yarns and tapes, for example, can reduce the weight of aircraft wire and cable harnesses by as much as 50 percent, resulting in considerable operational cost savings, as well as provide other valuable attributes such as flame resistance and improved reliability.

Nanocomp Technologies, Inc., a developer of performance materials and component products from carbon nanotubes (CNTs), in 2011 announced they had been selected by the United States Government, under the Defense Production Act Title III program (“DPA Title III”), to supply CNT yarn and sheet material for the program needs of the Department of Defense, as well as to create a path toward commercialization for civilian industrial use. Nanocomp’s CNT yarn and sheet materials are currently featured within the advanced design programs of several critical DoD and NASA applications.

Pure carbon wires carry data and electricity, yarns provide strength and stability

NTI converts its CNT flow to pure carbon, lightweight wires and yarns with properties that rival copper in data conductivity with reduced weight, increased strength and no corrosion—NTI’s wire and yarn products are presently being used both for data conduction and for structural wraps. For contrast: NTI’s CNT yarns were tested against copper for fatigue; where copper broke after nearly 14,000 bends, NTI’s CNT yarns lasted almost 2.5 million cycles—demonstrating nearly 2,000 times the fracture toughness.

NTI’s CNT yarns can be used in an array of applications including: copper wire replacement for aerospace, aviation and automotive; structural yarns, reinforcing matrix for structural composites; antennas; and motor windings.

Non-woven sheets and mats provide structure and/or conductivity

Laid onto a translating drum, the CNT flow is transformed into non-woven sheets of varying lengths and widths according to planned use. Sheet forms of NTI materials can be made thicker or thinner according to structural and/or conductive demands of the applications. Thin sheets (e.g., 20-30 microns thick) can serve a number of application requirements: electro-magnetic interference (EMI) shielding for data centers and airplanes; replacement for metal current collectors in battery electrodes, and airplane surface systems for lightning strike protection. By contrast, thicker sheets or stacked formats can act as a component of a structural system such as protective armor or as an integrated element of a conductive textile product.

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