Nanomaterials are manufactured by FutureCarbon itself using a synthetic route, or purchased from reliable manufacturers and then refined. FutureCarbon not only ensures that the manufacturing and refining processes are kind to the environment. Besides optimizing its technology, the company also focuses on the responsible utilization of the materials in their later applications. As a result of the synthetic manufacture and the numerous different production methods available, the carbonaceous raw materials required to produce nanomaterials are virtually inexhaustible.
The company's environmental awareness is reflected not only by the development projects on human toxicity (TRACER) and environmental accounting (HARCANA) outlined below, but also by its participation in various standardization panels and professional associations. The purpose of helping to define these standards is to render the materials comparable with one another and thus to be able to use them efficiently in their ultimate applications.
Carbon Nanomaterials: Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) and Carbon Nanofibers (CNF)
FutureCarbon manufactures and produces a wide range of carbon nanomaterials. The class of carbon nanomaterials can be further subdivided into the class of carbon nanotubes (CNT) and that of carbon nanofibers (CNF). The main difference between carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers lies in the configuration of the underlying planes that are created by the alignment of carbon atoms. While nanotubes display an axial alignment of concentric cylindrical planes mainly composed of hexagonal substructures, nanofibers are characterized by a parallel and homogeneous alignment of nanoscopic graphene layers along the axis.
The material-specific properties defined by the morphology enable technological leaps for novel applications and even for existing ones. This innovative power is due to the novelty of the basic materials or to factors such as the improved workability resulting from the small quantities of nanomaterials needed in order to assure the desired functionality.
Properties of carbon nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes are cylindrical tubes of nanoscopic dimensions
There are two types of nanotubes: CNT-SW (single-walled nanotubes) and CNT-MW (multi-walled nanotubes). Typical diameters range from a few nanometers (approx. 5 - 30nm, and even <1nm for single-walled nanotubes); typical lengths are in the range of a few millimeters.
The substructure of carbon nanotubes (“armchair”, “zigzag”) is derived from the type of process used during synthesis, and affects features such as the existence of semiconductor properties. The electric and thermal properties of the raw materials are greatly superior to those of conventional materials. In particular, correct insertion of the carbon nanotubes into a material matrix will cause a significant shift of the percolation curve towards reduced material concentrations. These promising properties are based on the emergence of a network that takes advantage of the high aspect ratio between the length and the diameter. The formation of networks also supports the improvement of mechanical properties within the matrices, particularly as the basic material has a tensile strength (11 - 63GPa) 20 times that of steel.
Properties of carbon nanofibers
FutureCarbon currently produces two different types of carbon nanofibers, platelets (CNF-HB) and herringbones (CNF-HB), which are created by varying the alignment of parallel nanoscopic graphene layers with homogeneous interstices. Like carbon nanotubes, they have a high aspect ratio with typical diameters ranging from 150 to 300 nm depending on the type.
Listed below are some of the fields of application in which the specific morphology of the materials is utilized: