On Friday, October 8th 2021, The department of Energy's advanced materials manufacturing division announced the winners of the CABLE Conductors Manufacturing Prize. In order to compete for this prize, teams of researchers submitted their plans for developing improved electrical conductors for energy applications in the near future. Researchers from the Pasquali-Irvin lab at Rice Univeristy joined forces with DexMat and entered this competition under the team name "Clean Carbon Conductors", proposing a focused effort to develop enhanced conductivity carbon nanotube conductors. We are happy to announce that we have been chosen as one of the ten winning teams!
Recent Rice University research suggests that a focused effort on CNT fiber conductivity enhancements could lead to CNT conductors with electrical conductivity greater than 112% IACS (i.e., 112% the conductivity of copper at room temperature) in the next 5-10 years. Furthermore, these CNTs can be synthesized with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions via methane pyrolysis while producing hydrogen fuel as a co-product. DexMat has a low-cost, scalable, fluid phase production method for manufacturing CNT conductors, and by partnering with Rice University to deliberately focus on enhancing electrical conductivity, we believe that the Clean Carbon Conductors team can one day produce CNT yarns with >65 MS/m electrical conductivity.
Below, you can check out the video we submitted along with our team's application to the contest; it highlights our proposed plan to increase the conductivity of CNT materials while working towards a net-zero carbon emission energy future!
Please stay tuned to see our progress in the American-Made Challenge as we proceed to Stage 2 of the competition!
The CABLE Conductor Manufacturing Prize is led by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office. Visit the CABLE Prize page on the American-Made Challenges website to learn more.