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Concord, N.H.-based Nanocomp Technologies Inc., a developer of new materials based on long-strand carbon nanotubes, has been awarded two new grants under the U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
The two awards, which stem from the firm’s successful completion of the Phase I feasibility research, will look into the conductive and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding properties of Nanocomp’s carbon nanotube sheets, and their application in aviation and aerospace. Executives would not disclose the dollar amounts of the fundings, but SBIR Phase II grants are typically valued up to $750,000 each.
Last March Nanocomp announced it had developed a process to regularly produce ultra-thin carbon sheets made of long nanotubes. As individual structures, carbon nanotubes hold unique properties, including very low weight, high strength, high conductivity of heat and electricity and a resistance to electromagnetic interference. Weaving tubes into a sheet form enables Nanocomp to offer a material more suited to many industrial applications, according to executives.
In the case of the Air Force projects, applications include using the material as an electrical conductor in aircraft, keeping weight — and therefore fuel consumption — down. The material could also be used on satellites to protect against electromagnetic interference.
Since last spring, Nanocomp has also managed to increase the scale of its product, going from a 3-foot-by-6-foot sheet to a 4-by-8 unit. The development of larger sheets is an ongoing process, according to Nanocomp co-founder and CEO Peter Antoinette.
“Larger sheets will allow us to cover larger areas, and it is that next step that will allow us to look at true industrial applications,” he said.
Originally spun out of Lebanon, N.H., technology incubator Synergy Innovations Inc. in 2004, Nanocomp has made its way with small amounts of funding, while maintaining high expectations. The company first landed $2 million in funding from the U.S. Army’s Natick Soldier Systems Center in 2004, and has landed additional SBIR grants from the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense. Nanocomp has also raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from CEI Community Ventures of Portland, Maine.
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