Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: Bayer MaterialScience wins new partner for its attractive Baytubes® market sector: Cooperation with FutureCarbon

Home > Press > Bayer MaterialScience wins new partner for its attractive Baytubes® market sector: Cooperation with FutureCarbon - Carbon nanotubes for aqueous nano d

Abstract:
Carbon nanotubes, also known as CNT for
short, offer great potential in the field of material sciences. Their
market potential for the next few years is estimated at several thousand
tons a year. Bayer MaterialScience AG is one of the world's leading
manufacturers of CNT in the form of Baytubes®. To drive forward the
application development of Baytubes® on an industrial scale, the company is
looking to set up strategic collaborations in the areas of business and
research. Bayer MaterialScience recently won FutureCarbon GmbH as a
cooperation partner for its Baytubes® activities. The Bayreuth-based
high-tech company will use Baytubes® and graphite materials to manufacture
aqueous nano dispersions using a new dispersion process for which a patent
has been filed. "FutureCarbon is an innovative and flexible partner that
will open up a very large and attractive market for high-tech nano
dispersons," explains Martin Schmid, head of global Baytubes® operations at
Bayer MaterialScience.

He also sees great opportunities for Baytubes® as additives for
thermoplastics, rubber and polyols for polyurethanes and in the production
of catalysts.

Bayer MaterialScience wins new partner for its attractive Baytubes® market sector: Cooperation with FutureCarbon - Carbon nanotubes for aqueous nano d

Leverkusen, Germany | Posted on August 21st, 2007

"Bayer MaterialScience is a first-choice supplier that can provide us with
a reliable supply of CNT with an outstanding level of quality and purity,"
stated Dr. Walter Schütz, Managing Director of FutureCarbon, as the two
companies signed the contract. In addition to aqueous and solvent-based
nano dispersions, FutureCarbon also supplies concentrates of carbon nano
materials in waxes, epoxy and cyanate ester resins, and pitch. The product
portfolio also includes metal-coated carbon nano materials and nano master
batches for thermoplastics. The range of applications for the products is
very broad. "Our customers include manufacturers of battery technology,
conductive coating systems and hydrogen storage. Moreover, our materials
are used, for example, to produce catalysts for fuel cells or heterogeneous
catalysis or to customize new high-performance materials such as CNT
composites with resins, ceramics and metals," added Schütz.

Baytubes® are agglomerates comprising multi-walled carbon nanotubes made up
of several graphite layers. It is the unusual characteristics profile of
the CNT that make them so appealing to the market. One particular strength
is their extreme load resistance - they might only have a quarter of the
mass of steel, but they are about five times stronger when subjected to
mechanical loads. Depending on their molecular structure, they can either
act as semiconductors or can conduct electricity better than copper. CNT
are resistant to heat and their heat-conducting properties are similar to
those of diamonds. At present, Bayer MaterialScience is operating a pilot
plant for the production of Baytubes® with an annual capacity of 30 metric
tons, soon to be increased to 60 metric tons. An industrial-scale
production plant with an annual capacity of 3,000 metric tons is also
planned.

Bayer MaterialScience has entered into numerous collaborations with
different companies with the aim of opening up new areas of application for
Baytubes®. For example, many sports goods manufacturers use CNT as
additives to improve the stiffness and strength of plastics. The range of
applications stretches from surfboards and baseball bats right through to
plastic sticks to protect the joints of cross-country skiers and Nordic
walkers. One application that confirms the electrical conductivity of
Baytubes® are the anti-static semi-finished products made of
polyetheretherketone (PEEK). The semi-finished products are processed to
create various machine parts, such as nozzles.

More information can be found at http://www.baytubes.com and
http://www.future-carbon.de .

####

About Bayer MaterialScience
With 2006 sales of EUR 10.2 billion (continuing operations), Bayer
MaterialScience is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business
activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials
and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas
of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and
electronics, construction and sports and leisure industries. Bayer
MaterialScience has 30 production sites around the globe and employed
approximately 14,900 people at the end of 2006. Bayer MaterialScience is a
Bayer Group company.

About FutureCarbon:
FutureCarbon, founded in 2002, develops and manufactures carbon nano
materials for a range of high-tech applications such as battery technology,
catalysis, fuel cells and new materials. Basic materials include carbon
nano tubes, carbon nano fibers and high-tech graphites. These materials are
used to manufacture dispersions in various media, such as water, solvents,
epoxy resins, cyanate ester resins, and thermoplastics. FutureCarbon
purifies, functionalizes and disperses the basic materials and processes
them into customer-specific products.

News and information about products, applications and services from Bayer
MaterialScience AG can be found at http://www.bayermaterialscience.com, and
information about the company’s participation in K 2007 at
http://www.k2007.bayermaterialscience.com

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current
assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group management. Various known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material
differences between the actual future results, financial situation,
development or performance of the company and the estimates given here.
These factors include those discussed in our annual and interim reports to
the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in our reports filed with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (including our Form 20-F). The company
assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements
or to conform them to future events or developments.

The full story can be found in BayNews.
http://WWW.BayNews.BAYER.DE/BayNews/BayNews.nsf/id/2007-0417-e

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Andrea Knebel
Corporate Policy and Media Relations
Address: Bayer MaterialScience AG
Building: W 1
Germany-51368 Leverkusen
Telephone: + 49 (0) 214-30-70313
Telefax: + 49 (0) 214-30-66426
E-Mail:

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