Nanocomp Looks to Space and Beyond

Peter Antoinette, founder of Nanocomp, holds a sample of the carbon sheeting used on NASA's Juno unmanned spacecraft. Courtesy of Nanocomp.

Nanocomp Technologies in Merrimack is poised to be the manufacturing industry’s Superman. When 100 of its carbon nanotube non-woven sheets are stacked together  the thickness of a few business cards, the material can stop a 9-millimeter bullet. Its carbon nanotube wiring is 70 percent lighter than copper wiring and takes more than 2 million flexes to fracture, which is 2,000 times stronger than copper. For a fleet of airplanes, that lighter, stronger material translates into tens of billions of dollars in fuel savings a year.

“Let me sound like a nutty entrepreneur. It’s not often you have a chance to make a product that will change society forever,” says Peter Antoinette of the company he founded in 2004.

Nanocomp produces sheets, tapes and yarn that are comprised of high concentrations of carbon nanotube fibers. The Department of Defense describes carbon nanotube fibers as the strongest and stiffest materials on earth in terms of their ability to stretch and flex without breaking. Further, it states nanotube materials weigh about one-sixth as much as steel, but can be more than 100 times stronger than steel and 30 times lighter than aluminum. Antoinette says the technology has also proven to be conductive and resistant to erosion, key properties when used in aerospace.

Nanocomp made one ton of these fibers last year, more than anyone has ever made, Antoinette says. In 2014, the company received an $18.5 million contract from the government to expand its plant and build capacity under the Defense Production Act Title III, a program for companies whose technologies are deemed critical to the national defense.

Production of a carbon nanotube sheet. Courtesy of Nanocomp.

The company’s carbon nanotube sheet material is now aboard NASA’s Juno unmanned spacecraft, which will reach Jupiter’s orbit later this year. The material is used to protect the thrusters and engines from electromagnetic interference, a critical task given that the radiation belt around Jupiter is 1,000 times stronger than Earth’s Van Allen radiation belt, says Antoinette.

“The last thing you want is the spacecraft burning out because the thrusters burn out. If it swerves off course, it’s space junk; it’s not a space craft. We’re on the most important component,” Antoinette explains. The material’s light weight is especially critical given that it costs $10,000 to $100,000 per pound to take something from the ground and send it into orbit, he says.

But Jupiter is not Nanocomp’s biggest target. In fact, it has a more mundane—but hugely profitable goal—the commercial market.

The Scaling Phase
The table in the company’s conference room is strewn with wire, rope, sheet material, and a protective vest, all made with Nanocomp’s carbon nanotube technology, which looks like carbon paper, as well as the less effective steel, Kevlar and copper counterparts.

“What you see in front of you is satellites, ships’ soldiers, aircraft,” he says of the current military uses of the technology.

Giving a tour, Antoinette heads into the manufacturing wing of the 100,000-square-foot facility: First through the current manufacturing space, then he heads into a finished but empty space that he anticipates will be up and running and employing 50 people by year’s end, increasing production to 5 to 8 tons. The final stop is a cold unfinished space that will employ another 100 to 150 people and allow for 20 to 40 tons of production annually when eventually brought online. “We are in the scaling phase now where we are breaking out of the military market and into the commercial market,” Antoinette says.

Nanocomp carbon nanotube wiring is now being tested on military aircraft as a replacement for copper wires that are heavier and less resistant to flexing. And the company’s nonwoven sheeting is now being tested as a lighter, stronger replacement for Kevlar in military armor.

The Near Future
Amid the company’s product line is a heater about the size of a 27-inch computer screen. Thin black sheets spread across the frame. When Antoinette turns it on, it immediately heats up, yet the black carbon nanotube sheets remain cool to the touch.

A prototype of Nanocomp's room heater. Photo by Christine Carignan.

The heater will be Nanocomp’s first foray into the commercial market. The company is working with RollEase in Maine to build a room heater using carbon nanotube sheets to sell in early 2017. Roll-
Ease makes protective awnings. He says the room heater is more efficient and safer than existing room heaters. “The reason you feel it as much as you do is it is radiating in the perfect frequencies we feel as humans, and it doesn’t get hot,” he says.

Antoinette says that is just the start. He envisions smart rooms, where heaters like his are in wall panels or in ceilings and turn on when it senses a person and off when they leave. He also sees a future application in electric cars or hybrids to heat up the passenger compartment thereby saving battery life.

Antoinette expects to double sales in the next few years even though sales have been flat the last few years due to government funding issues. In addition to the $18.5 million from the government, the company has also received $35 million in angel and investment funding and other smaller government grants. over the life of the company. Nanocomp holds 14 U.S. patents and 10 in other countries.

Antoinette is optimistic about the future but patient. He understands new technology takes time and believes his, having received the first-of-its-kind military funding, will help strengthen manufacturing in NH. “Aviation takes a long time to qualify things. I’m okay with that,” he says of getting his wires into airplanes. “But once you are there it’s a for-sure business.”