NASA Innovation Builds Better Nanotubes

Nanotailor Inc., based in Austin, Texas, licensed Goddard Space Flight Center's unique single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) fabrication process with plans to make high-quality, low-cost SWCNTs available commercially. Carbon nanotubes are being used in a wide variety of applications, and NASA's improved production method will increase their applicability in medicine, microelectronics, advanced materials, and molecular containment. Nanotailor built and tested a prototype based on Goddard's process, and is using this technique to lower the cost and improve the integrity of nanotubes, offering a better product for use in biomaterials, advanced materials, space exploration, highway and building construction, and many other applications.