OREANDA-NEWS. June 25, 2015. Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. and Shinshu University have successfully developed a carbon nano tube (CNT) conductor, which will offer world top conductivity. These development results will be used during the "Nano Carbon Material Implementation Project for Achieving a Low-Carbon Society," a support project implemented by the New Energy Development Organization (NEDO). Furukawa Electric will now enter a research and development phase in order to implement the technology.

Background

CNTs are formed from a sheet of hexagonally-bonded carbon atoms rolled into a cylinder shape. CNTs feature many outstanding qualities: they are light (1/5th the weight of copper), strong (20 times stronger than steel), and have a very high current density (1,000 times that of copper). CNTs are one form of nano carbon material that are expected to contribute to making electronic component lighter and bringing about a wide variety of performance increases. These ultralight and high performance materials will be crucial in achieving a low-carbon society.

Content

Furukawa Electric and Shinshu University's Institute of Carbon Science and Technology (Nagano, Nagano Prefecture) have successfully developed a CNT conductor that offers world top conductivity.
These research results were proposed and then accepted for NEDO's "Nano Carbon Material Implementation Project for Achieving a Low-Carbon Society" support project, under the topic "Development of Lightweight Nano Carbon Material Conducting Wire." Once some of the work involved in this project is handed off to Shinshu University, Furukawa Electric will spend the next two years developing ultralight conducting wire using CNT, and expects to complete a sample that can withstand actual use as a conducting wire.

Furukawa Electric will continue to utilize the many features of CNT (including high strength, ultra-low weight, and environment resistance), work toward reducing electric wire weight and loss, and contribute to achieving an energy-saving society.

About Furukawa Electric Group

Furukawa Electric (TSE; 5801, ISIN; JP3827200001) Group started business in 1884, when its copper-smelting facility and wire manufacturing factory was established. Since then Furukawa Electric has become pioneers in the latest technologies by addressing diverse technological issues. Furukawa Electric has released products in a number of areas, including telecommunications, electronics, automobiles, and construction, with the three types of materials it works with at their core, namely, optics, plastics, and metals. Many of these products have attained the top global market share, and all of its products have contributed to society in numerous business areas. Furukawa Electric reported consolidated revenues of JPY 867.8 billion (approximately USD 8.2B) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.