A technical and economic perspective on single walled carbon nanotubes bulk fabrication and mass application feasibility

Amongst the different nano-materials, Carbon Nanotubes, in particular Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWNT) offer a great potential for commercialization due to the vast array of possible applications for this technology. However, bulk production is expensive and not yet fully optimized. Optimizing the producibility and thus the reduction of cost and the enhancement of the application of this technology depends mainly on the product yield and purity levels of SWNT. Since the discovery of SWNT by Dr. Sumio Iijima, several fabrication approaches (Laser Ablation, HiPCo, CVD) and purification methods have been developed to improve yield and quality. In addition, structural characterization methods (HRTEM and Raman) have been successfully employed to control product quality during the fabrication methods and the purification processes. Nonetheless, current fabrication, purification and characterization approaches are expensive and impractical for on-site/real-time parameter adjustment if bulk production schedules are desired. These limitations render the commercialization of SWNT and subsequent selling prices out of the reach of mass consumers. This study provides a description of the SWNT technical and business environment and characterizes the economic realities faced by the engineering management community that are either not being considered or are yet not fully explored.