Scientists Evaluate Putin’s Carbon Nanotubes

The Russian President’s report at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris surprised many people who learned that our country possesses the unique nanotechnology that can start a real revolution not only in industry or ecology. According to Putin, this know-how can reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by 160-180 million tons in Russia alone by 2030.

What is the carbon nanotube and why does it attract this much attention at an international level? Simply speaking, the carbon nanotube is graphene rolled into a cylinder. It is contained in the ordinary graphite. A small percentage of the rolled graphene in a substance improves the useful properties of the subject many-fold making it lighter and stronger

“You can add the carbon nanotubes into the car tires, and they will serve much longer than the usual ones. Just imagine how much energy and power people spend for making the tires. These tires are everywhere”, says Vladimir Kuznetsov, senior researcher of Boreskov Institute of Catalysis SB RAS

By the scientist’s words, even a 5% drop in the tires consumption due to their longevity can significantly reduce the amount of polluting emissions into the atmosphere, because their production expenses would decrease, and the amount of the tires to be disposed of would also lessen.

“The carbon nanotubes are known for 30 years. The question was in the commercial use and industrial production. In Novosibirsk we created a method to synthesize the single-wall carbon nanotubes with net cost lower than that of the world analogues for tens of times. So it really is a great break-through. And we are at the cutting edge here”, says Kuznetsov as quoted by Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper

"The researcher says that today 1 g of nanotubes costs $100 abroad, and the Russian company is ready to sell its product at a tentative price of $500 for 1 kg. The potential market volume can be estimated at 70 billion dollars.

Adapted from ДНИ.РУ Internet-newspape