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High-Purity Semiconducting & Metallic Carbon Nanotube Inks

Electronically Separated Nanomaterials for Next-Generation Electronics

Metallic inks

Problem

Traditional conductive materials such as indium tin oxide (ITO) are often brittle, costly, and limited in their ability to support emerging flexible and high-performance electronic applications. At the same time, conventional carbon nanotube production yields mixtures of semiconducting and metallic nanotubes, making it difficult to achieve the material purity required for reliable device manufacturing. The industry needed a scalable source of electronically separated nanomaterials capable of enabling next-generation electronics, sensors, displays, and energy technologies.

Solution 

NanoIntegris developed IsoNanotubes®, a family of electronically separated single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) materials available in both semiconducting (IsoNanotubes-S®) and metallic (IsoNanotubes-M®) formulations with greater than 99% electronic purity. Enabled by the company's proprietary separation technology, IsoNanotubes® were among the first commercially available carbon nanotube products to achieve reliable electronic separation at commercial scale, allowing researchers and manufacturers to precisely tailor material properties for specific applications. The materials are available in ready-to-use dispersions, powders, and inks, facilitating seamless integration into device manufacturing workflows across a wide range of industries. Designed for applications in electronics, optoelectronics, sensors, advanced materials, and energy systems, IsoNanotubes® are used by hundreds of organizations worldwide, including leading universities, research institutions, and Fortune 500 companies.

With its atomically precise and scalable separation technology, NanoIntegris has been able to deliver the highest purity semiconducting and metallic carbon nanotube inks to the global printed electronics market for the past two decades.”

— Mark Hersam, PhD  
Professor, McCormick School of Engineering 

Benefits

  • Semiconducting Inks (IsoNanotubesS®): Enable high-performance transistors, sensors, and optoelectronic devices. 
  • Metallic Inks (IsoNanotubesM®): Provide superior conductivity for transparent films, composites, and smart glass. 
  • Flexible Electronics: Replace brittle ITO in displays and solar cells. 
  • High Frequency Devices: Support bolometers, infrared sensors, and RF components. 
  • Biomedical Potential: Used in drug delivery and biosensing platforms. 

Technology & Commercialization Status 

The scientific foundation for NanoIntegris’ technology originated in the laboratory of McCormick Professor Mark Hersam, whose research pioneered advanced methods for separating and sorting carbon nanotubes and graphene by their electronic properties. Using techniques such as density gradient ultracentrifugation and selective polymer wrapping, Hersam’s group enabled the production of high-purity semiconducting and metallic nanomaterials that were previously difficult to obtain at commercial scale.

Building on these innovations, NanoIntegris translated the technology into a portfolio of electronically separated carbon nanotube products, making high-purity nanomaterials broadly accessible to researchers and industry. Today, IsoNanotubes® materials are used in applications spanning flexible electronics, optoelectronics, sensing, and advanced energy systems.

Commercial applications include Transparent conductive films for flexible displays, organic photovoltaics and OLEDs, infrared sensors and bolometers, and smart windows and advanced composite materials.

In 2012, NanoIntegris was acquired by Raymor Industries, expanding the company’s manufacturing capabilities and accelerating the global commercialization of its nanomaterial technologies.

Northwestern Innovator  

Mark C. Hersam, PhD
Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science 
McCormick School of Engineering 

Links 

Website: https://nanointegris.com/  

Publications