Kumho Petrochemical to produce carbon nanotubes at Asan

16-Dec-13

Kumho Petrochemical plans to speed up production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) after the completion of a plant inside the company’s factory for electronic materials in Asan. It has been 4 years since the company revealed its intention to make full-scale expansion into the business of carbon nanotubes, as per businesskorea.co.kr. As one allotrope of carbon, CNTs have been touted for use in various areas, including batteries, semiconductors, cars, aircraft, home appliances, household items, and bio products. The material has 1,000 times higher conductivity than copper and 100 times higher tensile strength than steel. Thus, next-gen nanotechnology for the carbon material has been drawing a lot of attention. The 543,860 square meter plant can produce 50 tons of CNTs per year. Kumho Petrochemical is going to gradually increase its production up to 300 tons, in line with the maturity of the market for carbon nanotubes. With this plan, the company aims to achieve 1 trillion won (US$950 billion) in sales by 2020.