Eden Encourages Commercial Application of Carbon Nanotubes & Nanofibers in Automotives & Electronics

Eden Energy Ltd has announced the wide applications of carbon nanotubes and nanofibers in various industries like electronics, automotives where they are mixed with rubber and plastics and used in manufacturing of vehicle tyres etc. Initially they encourage nano tubes and fibers utilisation in batteries followed by plastic and rubber industries where they improve the tensile strength and shelf life of rubber. Eden has also developed new pyrolysis technology along with university of Queensland which produces carbon nanotubes and nanofibers from natural gas and significant advantage of not producing carbon dioxide as an unwanted by-product.

First Sale of Eden's Nano-Carbon Fibers to a Battery Manufacturer for Commercial Application:

Eden Energy Ltd ("Eden") has made its first commercial sale of its carbon nanotubes (CNT) and carbon nanofibers (CNF) to an industrial battery manufacturer. The sale followed the testing by the battery manufacturer of the suitability of Eden's nano-carbon fibers in its batteries, which include a wide range of rechargeable industrial batteries including re-chargeable vehicle batteries. They advertise that a very small quantity of carbon nanotubes added to material in the battery, dramatically increases the storage capacity of the battery and significantly reduces the time taken to recharge the battery. Whilst the first sale was of only a relatively small quantity of carbon, it is nevertheless understood to be sufficient for possibly up to 1000 batteries, but most importantly is confirmation from the market of the commercial acceptability of Eden's carbon nano-products for electrical applications.

Initial Testing of Eden's Nano-Carbon Fibers in Rubber and Plastics to Begin:

Eden will commence testing at the Hythane Company's laboratory in Colorado, USA, the effects of mixing carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers with rubber and plastic. Published test results of trials by other research groups indicate that in the case of rubber, which is normally made with a base mixture of rubber (67wt%) and carbon black (33wt%), substitution of 5wt % of carbon nanotubes for the 33wt% carbon black, can increase the tensile strength of the rubber by up to 35% and the strain energy density by up to 37%, potentially resulting in lighter, longer life tyres. In the case of plastics, published test results of other researchers have shown that the addition of carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers to the plastic produces a significant increases in strength, and both electrical and thermal conductivity. 1wt% of multiwalled nanotubes, added to polyethylene increased its strain energy density by approximately 150% and its ductility by approximately 140%. In the case of carbon fibre strengthened epoxy composites, addition of 0.5wt% of multiwalled carbon nanotubes increased stiffness and strength by 10-15% and sheer strength by 25-30%.

Eden's New Pyrolysis Technology:

Eden's new Pyrolysis technology, developed by Eden and the University of Queensland, produces hydrogen and carbon nano-fibers or carbon nanotubes from natural gas (methane) and has the very significant advantage of not producing carbon dioxide as an unwanted by-product. In India, where Eden is planning to demonstrate its hydrogen enriched Hythane™ fuel in two bus trials later this year, establishing a market for a significant quantity of the nano-carbon products will not only enable production of large quantities of hydrogen but also a significant amount of valuable carbon nano-products.

Eden's pyrolysis process and catalyst production capability, is currently being scaled up at Hythane Company to a small scale commercial production level of up to 100 tonnes of carbon per year, and is planned to be completed by the end of 2011, which, if successful, will open the way to a commercial rollout in 2012, with initial deployment being planned for India.