99 -- Long Composite Fibers of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) by Spinning

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), operated by the University of California under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is seeking one or more industrial partners to assist in advancing and commercializing LANLs Carbon Nanotube (CNT) technologies. Partnerships may take the form of Cooperative Research & Development Agreements (CRADA) and/or commercial licenses. Commercial licensees will have the option to obtain, up to and including, an exclusive license to the intellectual property in a pre-negotiated, defined field of use for reasonable compensation. CRADAs are expected to include funds-in to the Lab. Although their diameter is roughly one-ten-thousandth that of a human hair, carbon nanotubes are 100 times stronger than steel, more durable than diamonds and provide the highest thermal conductivity of any material. In addition to uses in lightweight, high-strength applications, these new long metallic nanotubes also will enable new types of nanoscale electro-mechanical systems such as micro-electric motors, nanoscale diodes, and nanoconducting cable for wiring micro-electronic devices. The challenge that has faced researchers since the discovery of carbon nanotubes by Japanese scientist Sumio Iijima in 1991 is handling such gossamer materials and spinning them into useful lengths. Individual CNTs presently made are generally very short (< 1 millimeter) and are therefore difficult or impossible to use in practical applications. LANLs technologies overcome this limitation by providing a means for making long composite fibers of CNTs by spinning such fibers from a supported array of CNTs. For more information please visit http://www.lanl.gov/partnerships/license/technologies