Prices are expected to fall quickly and make commercial applications viable

Prices are expected to fall quickly and make commercial applications viable

Potential users of carbon nanotube and nanofibre products should ignore today’s high prices and begin developing commercial applications now to avoid missing out on new opportunities.

Speaking at the European Plastics News Nanotubes & Nanofibres conference in Brussels this week Tim Jarman, chief executive of the European Nanobusiness Association and founder of consultancy group CMP Cientifica, said prices are likely to fall so quickly over the next few years that projects should not be ruled out on today’s pricing levels.

“Today’s pricing only shows that this is a very immature market. Our prediction is that prices will fall,” he said. “In the long term prices could be less than some of today’s carbon fibres.” Nanotube and nanofibre prices vary considerably today but are almost invariably high. Carbon nanofibres typically cost between $1 and $5 (E1.2 and E6) a gram, multi wall nanotubes $5 to $350 (E6 to E420), and single wall nanotubes $50 to $400 (E60 to E480).

However, Jarman said global production capacity, which has been almost laboratory scale to now, is growing fast. SWNT production capacity will triple to 27tpa by 2005, MWNT capacity will more than double to 268tpa by 2007. Prices are already falling. Peter Smith, managing director of UK-based fast tooling company Rapid Tooling Technologies and a commercial carbon nanofibre user, said costs had fallen to 25% of the levels of nine months ago.