CNTs are exactly what they sound like, tubes of graphitic carbon molecules with a diameter of 1-2 nanometers. But for as small these things are, the have some absolutely mind-blowing properties…

CNTs have 50 times the strength of steel and are lighter than aluminum. They have among the highest thermal conductivity of any known material and can transmit twice as much heat as pure diamond. They also are able to conduct 1,000 times more current than copper, which is the leading material in electricity conducting. They are also better semiconductors with electron mobility 70 times larger than silicon.

The applications for these characteristics are infinite. This technology can be used in touch screens, such as Nintendo’s handheld system; Liquid Crystal Display screens, which is a $1 billion-plus market itself; thin-film transistors, which are used in flexible electronics technology; solar panels because of the semiconductivity of these CNTs; and even fuel cells, solving the current problems with kinetic, resistive and mass-transfer losses in today’s fuel cells. Carbon nanotubes have even been studied as a possible material for a “space elevator.”

This is just the start. Think about this: These CNTs have 50 times the strength of steel and are lighter than aluminum, even when they are diluted with water and sprayed on various things. The result of covering things with this solution is like clear coating whatever you want with basically clear steel at a thickness of one nanometer. The possibilities of this are unlimited.

As you can imagine, there are many companies looking into exploiting this technology, but only one with the intellectual properties and resources to get it off the ground. This company just signed a licensing agreement that will get these CNTs out of the lab and into everyday life.

What make this company an interesting play are the recent mergers and partnerships. They signed an agreement in April of this year to start perfecting this technology for use on Nintendo products. The company also recently merged with another carbon nanotube industry leader. The merger combines hundreds of nanotube patents, which sets the new company apart from all of the competition. Finally, about a month and a half ago, the company signed a strategic alliance with the biggest R&D firm in the world, which has a budget of $3.8 billion.

In times of erratic markets, ideas like this one are going to save the smart investor. Many people are afraid of tech companies when other stocks are volatile, but smart investors know that surrounding circumstances don’t have an impact on innovations like this. In fact, some of the best investments are made when the market is unstable. And that’s exactly what we are looking to find here at Penny Sleuth. Until next time…

Sincerely,
Jim Nelson
August 22, 2007

P.S.: The carbon-nanotube company mentioned above is covered more extensively in the September issue of Greg Guenthner’s Penny Stock Fortunes, which will be in the mail next week.

Penny Stock Space Technology was originally featured in the Penny Sleuth.

However, researchers are busily developing applications that link enormous numbers of nano-sized particles into larger structures. This has important business implications.

The University of Texas reports that a team at UT-Dallas has recently been able to “grow” sheets of carbon nanotubes at high speeds using a revolutionary process. These sheets have many remarkable properties.

They’re transparent. They’re also stronger than steel on a pound-for-pound basis.

The new process “spins out” these sheets at the rate of about 20 feet per minute. By comparison, wool is spun out commercially at the rate of roughly 60 feet per minute.

Here’s how it works: Unlike previous approaches which relied upon the dispersion of carbon nanotubes in liquids, this new approach is dry. Trillions of carbon nanotubes constantly rotate in a coordinated manner, with new ones attaching to the previous part of the sheet in a self assembling fashion.

Carbon nanotubes are theoretically one of the strongest materials known to man, and may just be the strongest possible in terms of weight-to-strength ratio. They are considered ideal for applications where weight must be minimized, yet intense stresses will be applied to the finished product.

Not only are the sheets light and strong, but they’re also very flexible.

This is particularly important in space and aircraft applications, where minimizing weight is crucial to fuel economy. In years to come, we can expect to begin seeing these sheets molded into coverings and eventually structural components of aircraft and spacecraft.

For example, much as one would wind duct tape around a pipe, a thin hollow aluminum tube could be wrapped in a sheet of carbon nanotubes until it approximates the strength of a solid steel strut. The difference is that it would do so at far less total weight.

In addition, the sheets have high electrical conductivity. They could be cut and formed into different shapes and serve as bright light emitting diodes (LED’s). LED’s are already increasingly being deployed as replacements to traditional filament based bulbs, and this will hasten the transition.

Another exciting potential use is as solar cells. Although the efficiency has apparently yet to be determined, this should offer advantages in simplicity of manufacturing process and eventually a very low cost per square foot.

A more exotic use is in making artificial muscles. The University of Texas researchers recently published an article in Science that explored how these carbon nanotubes sheets could be configured to flex without losing electrical conductivity.

Using microwave radiation, the sheets can even be welded between sheets of Plexiglas. This would enable something those of us who’ve lived in snowy and icy environments have long desired: A transparent heating element in our car windows.

Down the road, other UT researchers now envision even more exciting applications. For example, Dr. Larry Cauller, associate professor of neuroscience has tentatively determined that cells will grow on these sheets. In addition to supporting laboratory research, this might solve one of the major challenges in growing artificial organs.

It’s funny how sometimes technologies from diverse areas converge. In 2006, I had dinner in Baltimore with the CEO and lead scientific researcher of Hepalife Technologies (HPLF.OB: OTC BB), a Transformational Technologies Portfolio holding.

This scientist is quite confident that his research will lead the world’s first functioning artificial liver. They have the perfect liver cell line. It’s basically immortal, does the same job of purifying blood as human liver cells and is “well-behaved,” meaning that it will grow to cover a scaffolding and then stop growing.

So far so good. The problem, he candidly admitted, was that they haven’t yet found the ideal scaffolding material. I’m guessing that these carbon nanotubes sheets with their flexibility, biocompatibility and durability may be just the ticket.

You can be sure I’ll let them know about this breakthrough.

Multiple other possible applications have been identified, including batteries, fuel cells and even multifunctional applications in which the sheets can both store energy and provide structural reinforcement. Imagine, for example, a car battery that also serves as a roll bar.

“Rarely is a processing advance so elegantly simple that rapid commercialization seems possible, and rarely does such an advance so quickly enable diverse application demonstrations,” said the article’s corresponding author, Dr. Ray Baughman, director of the UTD NanoTech Institute.

The institute is reportedly working with some major corporations and government agencies to bring the technology forward to commercialization. I’ll be watching for small, promising companies to pick up some of these applications and run with them.

To your profitable future,
Jonathan Kolber
April 11, 2007

P.S.: Big Pharma’s biggest players are waving blank checks at this fledgling drug firm — and at YOU, if you’re holding shares… This new company’s Alzheimer’s drug sailed through FDA Phase 2 drug trials with flying colors — spurring immediate interest in either a licensing agreement or an outright buyout from one household-name drug giant.

Investing in Nanotechnology was originally featured in the Penny Sleuth.