SWeNT Breaks Ground on $3.9 Million Facility

NORMAN, Okla. - SouthWest Nanotechnologies Inc., a leading producer of single-wall carbon nanotubes, broke ground today on a $3.9 million manufacturing plant that will enable the company to dramatically increase production.

The 15,000-square-foot facility is being constructed on eight acres at the Norman Business Park. Expected to be completed in spring 2008, the building leaves room for expansion as the company grows.

SWeNT was founded in April 2001 to commercialize nanotube technology developed by Daniel Resasco, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Oklahoma. The company produces carbon nanotubes using a patented catalytic method called CoMoCAT®, which results in selective synthesis of single wall carbon nanotubes and remarkable control of diameter, chirality and purity. The CoMoCAT® brand is widely recognized for its quality and scalability.

When the new facility is fully operational, nanotube production is expected to increase from grams per day to kilograms per day, said SWeNT CEO David Arthur.

“We’re scaling up our process to produce very large quantities of these single-wall nanotubes. Approximately 100 times more product will be manufactured each day at this plant." Arthur said. "As a result, the manufacturing cost for industry standard single-wall carbon nanotubes will drop from nearly $100 per gram today to $2 per gram by 2009."

“I expect us to be the center of the universe for single-wall carbon nanotubes right here in Norman," he added.

SWeNT’s target markets include displays (transparent electrodes, field emission panels), military and aerospace (nanocomposite fibers, sensors, stealth coatings), energy (quantum wires, fuel cells, photovoltaics), medicine (biosensors, cancer treatment, drug delivery systems), automotive (conductive plastics) and semiconductors (molecular interconnects, organic semiconductors). Combined, these markets represent a multi-billion dollar market opportunity for carbon nanotubes.