Expansionary Institute

Forum Admin
futurist3000@aol.com

.c Kyodo News Service  

 
TOKYO, Dec. 26 (Kyodo) - Two giant trading houses Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co. are set to compete in the field of the mass production of a high-tech material based on nanotechnology, industry officials said Wednesday.

Mitsui said the same day its subsidiary Carbon Nanotech Research Institute Inc. (CNRI) will start manufacturing carbon nanotubes at the annual pace of 120 tons next September.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Corp. expects its joint venture with Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Frontier Carbon Corp., to start mass producing in February of a material based on nanotechnology called ''Fullerene,'' a carbon molecule with a footfall-shaped structure, a senior company official said.

Mitsui said possible applications of the nanotubes include light-weight automobile parts and material for use in fuel cells. Fuel cells power automobiles through electricity generation stemming from chemical reactions between hydrogen and oxygen. One nanometer is one-billionth of 1 meter.

Next spring, the Mitsui subsidiary will start building a factory for the product in the city of Akishima on the western outskirts of Tokyo. CNRI has been conducting research on mass-production technology for nanotubes with university researchers since its establishment in July.

The nanotubes will cost some 10,000 yen per kilogram -- roughly one-10th of that of other materials to which nanotechnology has been applied.

Mitsubishi officials said applications of Fullerene range from long-life lithium ion batteries, hydrogen storage material for fuel cells, super conductive materials, and super-small-particle artificial diamonds for industrial grinding.

''Applications of the new material to pharmaceuticals and cosmetics with anti-aging functions are likely to be realized within two to three years,'' a Mitsubishi official said.

University researchers, knowledgeable of the two firms' production plans, have commended the two companies for providing the academic community with the means and know-how to enable academics' nanotechnology research to be applied on a commercial basis.

The attempts to produce the nanotechnology-based materials on a commercial basis are under scrutiny in Japan's business and academic circles partly because Japan is believed to have an competitive edge in the nanotechnology field over other countries.

AP-NY-12-26-01 0633EST

Copyright 2001 The Kyodo News Service. The information contained in the Kyodo news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Kyodo News Service.