Carbon Nanotubes for State-of-the-art Packaging

July 12, 2004

Carbon Nanotechnologies, Inc (CNI) and Kostat, Inc. today announced a joint development agreement to develop and commercialise conductive polymers for electronics module trays, carrier tapes and other electronics related applications. Products developed as a result of this collaboration will leverage the breakthrough properties of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), CNI’s expertise in applying SWNTs, and Kostat’s expertise in polymer processing.

Single-wall carbon nanotubes, also known as Buckytubes, are the ultimate engineering polymer, 100 times stronger than steel at less than one sixth the weight. This cylindrical polymer of pure carbon, said to be the strongest, stiffest, toughest material known, also conducts electricity like metals and conducts heat better than diamond.

CNI and Kostat will blend SWNTs with other polymers that will then be injection molded or thermoformed into packaging components for the electronics industry where conductive polymers are critical to dissipate electrostatic charges, a key reason for electronics failures. Kostat will market these advanced products to electronics manufacturers around the world.

Bob Gower, CEO of CNI says, “High performance electronics applications are a natural fit for the properties of SWNTs and Kostat is a fast growing company in this field with a track record of commercializing new products.” Hong Kim, President and CTO of Kostat, adds ” SWNTs will help take Kostat to the next plateau of supplying our electronics industry customers with state-of-the-art packaging made from next generation materials.”