Consumables
Baytubes, the multi-wall carbon nanotubes from Bayer MaterialScience, now also available in the United States
Friday 26. December 2008 - Bayer MaterialScience has received regulatory approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Baytubes, its multi-wall carbon nanotubes.
This enables the company to sell Baytubes on the American market and reinforces Bayer MaterialSciences role as one of the worlds leading manufacturers of carbon nanotubes. The approval covers Baytubes C 150 P and HP grades that are produced in a plant in Laufenburg, Germany with an annual capacity of 60 metric tons.
“The EPA approval enables us to extend our commercial-scale activities in Europe and Asia to the United States. We can take Baytubes out of the lab and onto the market, working with our customers to develop new applications. Naturally, we will systematically continue our intensive and constructive cooperation with the U.S. authorities in order to ensure that both we and our customers comply with all the statutory requirements at all times,” said Martin Schmid, who is in charge of Baytubes activities at Bayer MaterialScience in Leverkusen. “Introducing commercial volumes of Baytubes onto the U.S. market represents a milestone and offers tangible proof of Bayers global commitment to this innovative technology,” added Joseph D. Ventura, Business Development Manager at Bayer MaterialScience in Pittsburgh.
Baytubes can be added to polymer matrices or metal systems as a modifier or filler to improve their mechanical strength and/or antistatic properties, and are already used in epoxy, thermoplastic and coating systems. The products applications include sports equipment – ranging from skis and surfboards to hockey sticks and baseball bats – along with other injection-molded and extruded components such as rotor blades for wind turbines. A further innovative application for Baytubes is modifying light metals such as aluminum and magnesium.