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A new company, Nanotailor, has licensed NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s (GSFC’s) unique single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) fabrication process with plans to make high-quality, low-cost SWCNTs available commercially. Potential markets for the technology are vast and include medical, manufacturing, imaging, and others. The license provides Nanotailor a springboard from which to start and grow its business, and GSFC will receive royalty revenue from the agreement.

Benefits of Technology Transfer

• Nanotailor's licensing of GSFC's SWCNT manufacturing technology will enable the company to offer high-quality SWCNTs as an integral part of its initial commercial offering.
  
  
• Nanotailor’s plans to manufacture and market high-quality SWCNTs at a low cost may result in more widespread use of the tubes for many industries, especially medical research.
  
  
• NASA will benefit from royalties from Nanotailor’s SWCNT sales, which may be reinvested in the space program as well as new nanotechnology research.
  
  
• NASA may purchase SWCNTs from Nanotailor, directly benefiting from the technology for use in space exploration research.

About Nanotailor

Based in Austin, Texas, Nanotailor was formed to manufacture high-quality SWCNTs at a low cost. The company plans to make the tubes commercially available to universities and companies seeking higher quality nanotechnology to advance scientific research.

Technology Origins

Although carbon nanotubes were discovered 15 years ago, their use has been limited due to the complex, dangerous, and expensive methods for their production. However, scientists at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center developed a simpler, safer, and much less expensive manufacturing process for SWCNTs. The key innovation in NASA’s process was its ability to produce bundles of SWCNTs without using a metal catalyst, dramatically reducing pre- and post-production costs, while generating higher yields and greater purity.

NASA believed that its improved production process could increase the prevalence of carbon nanotube technology in many areas, including medical applications such as portable/field equipment, implantable biosensors, artificial limbs and organs, and drug delivery; miniature and consumer electronics; research instruments (e.g., microscopy); fuel cells; radiation shielding; and innovative polymers for a wide range of applications. Therefore, the technology entered NASA’s technology transfer process.

The Transfer Process

In 2003, NASA GSFC’s Innovative Partnerships Program (IPP) Office began promoting the innovative SWCNT manufacturing technology at conferences, in print, and online. In 2006, Nanotailor’s would-be chief technology officer was researching the availability of low-cost SWCNTs for research. It was then that he came across GSFC’s process, and the idea of starting a new company based on the technology started to come to fruition. In early 2007, the small group that later formed the company contacted NASA and worked with the IPP Office, which helped guide them through the process of formulating a license agreement. The license was finalized in April 2007, and Nanotailor was officially formed the same month.

Gearing Up for Commercialization

With a license agreement in place, Nanotailor has built and tested a prototype based on the SWCNT manufacturing process. The company is now working on commercialization efforts with a plan to go to market by the end of 2007. Device integrators and nanotechnology-based device companies will likely be among Nanotailor’s first customers, though the company hopes to cater to all industries and research organizations currently using multi-walled nanotubes, since the SWCNT technology will offer greater purity and structural integrity.

Contact

Innovative Partnerships Program Office
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Phone: (301) 286-5810
E-mail: techtransfer@gsfc.nasa.gov