Japan developed a new technology for resin nanotubes

Japanese media reported that Toru Hiroshi, an associate professor at the Toyohashi University of Technology in Japan, has developed a technology that uses electrostatic interactions to adhere carbon nanotubes (CNTs) onto polymer resins and ceramic surfaces. Using this technique, CNT electrodes can be formed on the surface of a substrate of a liquid crystal panel, and thus it is expected to be an alternative technology for an ITO electrode that requires rare metals, such as indium.

According to reports, the technology developed this time is divided into the following processes. First, put the parent material, the resin particles, into the electrolyte solution and place the CNTs in the dispersant so that they have positive and negative opposite charges. Then, the resin particles and the CNTs are taken out from the electrolyte solution and the dispersant and mixed in a solvent such as water, and the CNTs are uniformly adsorbed on the surface of the resin particles by the action of static electricity. Finally, as long as the resin particles are formed, a resin having a conductivity as a whole can be produced. Just like replacing ITO, CNTs can be formed on the surface of a substrate by electrically charging a large substrate surface with CNTs.

This technology is characterized in that even if the weight ratio of the CNT addition amount is only 0.01%, it can be made into a material having conductivity, and by controlling the amount of CNTs added, the conductivity of the material can be freely changed. Because of the small amount of CNTs added, the added CNTs do not, in principle, lead to changes in the basic properties of the material. For example, if it is a transparent resin, it can be made conductive while maintaining its transparency; if it is a flexible resin substrate, it can be made conductive while maintaining flexibility. In the current trial production results, the conductive range is in the range of 0.0005 to 20 S/m, and theoretically the conductivity of the CNT can be achieved. Therefore, by changing the conductivity, it is expected to be applied to various applications such as antistatic, electromagnetic wave absorption, and electrodes.