Stronger, faster, more efficient: Japanese research team wins European Inventor Award 2015 for a material of superlatives
- European Patent Office (EPO) honours Sumio Iijima, Akira Koshio, and Masako Yudasaka in the category "Non-European Countries" for their work on carbon nanotubes
- Unique new structural form of carbon renders existing technology faster, lighter, and more powerful
- Countless application possibilities in aerospace technology, the automotive industry, and biomedicine
- EPO President Battistelli: "Carbon nanotubes are the material of the future"
Paris/Munich, 11 June 2015 - They are miniscule structures with enormous potential: carbon nanotubes. Completely unknown until their discovery by Japanese researcher Sumio Iijima, this allotrope of carbon has unique physical properties that make powerful computers even faster and vehicle bodies lighter and stronger. For their discovery of carbon nanotubes, as well as the development of a plasma-based method to produce them, the team of researchers led by Sumio Iijima, Akira Koshio, and Masako Yudasaka at the Japanese firm NEC received the European Inventor Award 2015 in the category "Non-European Countries". The award was presented today by the European Patent Office (EPO) at the Palais Brongniart, the historical Paris stock exchange, in the presence of some 400 guests from the fields of politics, industry and science. The prestigious award, now in its 10th year, is presented annually by the EPO to recognise outstanding inventors who have made an exceptional contribution to social development, technological progress and economic growth.
"Thanks to the research of Sumio Iijima, Akira Koshio, and Masako Yudasaka, future visions such as the space elevator or the targeted treatment of illness with nanoparticles can become a reality," said EPO President Benoît Battistelli at the award ceremony. "Carbon nanotubes will result in enormous societal and economic benefits because of their versatility. We are witnessing the earliest phase of their development, but they have the potential to revolutionise technology in fields such as aerospace technology and biomedicine."
Glimpse into the future
Carbon is truly an all-rounder: carbon compounds are the building blocks for life on earth. And, as fossil fuels, they remain the most important energy source on the planet. Carbon has numerous useful properties in its pure form as well. Until Sumio Iijima's discovery of carbon nanotubes in 1991, the world only knew of three forms of pure carbon: diamond, graphite, and hollow structures shaped like soccer balls called fullerenes. The physicist had studied atomic structures for years and he developed the first high-resolution electron microscope in the course of his work. "The discovery was accidental but in a way it wasn't. I spent so much time using a microscope that the discovery was almost inevitable," says the 75-year-old looking back at his work. Iijima's years of research and his spectacular find are regarded as milestones in materials science.
Under the microscope, the tiny tubes reveal a brief glimpse into a promising future in the field of materials. Their honeycomb-shaped carbon atoms resemble a piece of wire mesh rolled together to form a tubular structure. This form results in physical properties that make them a "featherweight" that is at once stronger than steel. They also offer excellent electrical and thermal conductivity. Carbon nanotubes have already been used as a filler to make significant improvements to materials such as polymers and metals: solar modules thus become more efficient; computers faster, cars and aeroplane parts more durable.
Boundless possibilities
The next challenge after discovering carbon
nanotubes was to develop a suitable process for their production. Iron was
initially required as a metallic catalyst, but it came with a drawback: it contaminated
the carbon nanotubes. Plus, it is toxic for humans. Sumio Iijima, Akira Koshio,
and Masako Yudasaka therefore developed the plasma method: This production
process vaporises the carbon rods in hot plasma. "We researched for five years.
Finally it worked: it generated very pure carbon nanotubes of excellent quality,"
says Akira Koshio. This new level of purity brought about completely new
possibilities: "Carbon nanotubes can play an important role in medicine in
future. You could carry drugs directly to cancer cells or use them to help find
tumors. And they could quickly detect illnesses in blood tests," says Masako
Yudasaka describing the advantages of the plasma method.
Carbon nanotubes are regarded as a significant
technology of the future and their commercialisation is booming. According to
estimates, overall revenue could increase to EUR 913 million by 2016.
Media materials for Sumio Iijima, Akira Koshio, Masako Yudasaka
View the patent: EP1464618
Note to editors: availability of AV and photo materials on 11 June |
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More information about all 15 European Inventor Award finalists (including AV, photo and text materials) is available in the EPO Media Centre . |
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