Intertek announces new carbon nanotube characterisation & certification service

12 Jun 2014

Wilton, United Kingdom – Intertek, a leading quality solutions provider to industries worldwide, today announced a comprehensive facility for characterising key structural and quality parameters of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs).

Carbon nanotubes are very thin tubes of elemental carbon with exceptional mechanical, optical and electrical properties that have the potential to significantly improve the performance of a wide range of materials by altering their fundamental properties. Recent advancements in manufacturing processes mean that SWNTs are now becoming available in sufficient quantity for industrial-scale evaluation and application and so it is increasingly important to be able to verify their quality though robust analytical testing. Applications currently being explored include additives for batteries, composites for the automotive and aerospace industry, electrodes and semiconductor devices such as transistors.

With dimensions of approximately 1/100000th the thickness of a single human hair, SWNTs can present analytical challenges for assessing their quality and structure. No single technique can adequately characterise a nanotube product, and so a diverse set of complementary analytical techniques which have exquisite precision and sensitivity are required. This comprehensive analytical service is commercially available to both manufacturers of nanotubes and to developers who wish to incorporate nanotubes into their products.

Neil Everall, Company Research Associate at Intertek, shared “Intertek has the diverse range of advanced analytical instrumentation necessary for quality assessment of carbon nanotubes. Building on over 20 years of analytical research experience, our testing capabilities are aligned to our clients’ requirements for highly robust quality assessment of advanced nanomaterials, which includes carbon nanotubes.”

UK Country Manager Rob van Dorp said: “The launch of our new carbon nanotube characterisation and certification service not only supports the next wave of our clients’ chemical and technological advancement, but it also reflects our commitment to cutting-edge scientific innovation, which is core to our business.”

Contacts:
Dr Lorna Kettle, Marketing Manager, Intertek Life Sciences
Tel.:+44 161 721 1476
lorna.kettle@intertek.com

About Intertek
Intertek is a leading quality solutions provider to industries worldwide. From auditing and inspection, to testing, training, advisory, quality assurance and certification, Intertek adds value for its customers by helping improve the quality and safety of their products, assets and processes. With a network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 36,000 people in more than 100 countries, Intertek supports companies’ success in the global marketplace, by helping customers to meet end users’ expectations for safety, sustainability, performance, integrity and desirability in virtually any market worldwide. Visit www.intertek.com