Focus on smart coatings: Breakthrough in 3C – graphene nanotubes combine conductivity and transparency

Films play a crucial role in the consumer electronics industry, safeguarding smartphones, tablets and laptops from scratches, fingerprints and dust. As the demand for such devices rises, the need for functional and aesthetically pleasing protective coatings is expanding, with a forecasted global market growth of 5.33% by 2027. Graphene nanotubes offer a unique solution combining permanent conductivity and high transparency in coatings for 3C products without changing standard technological processes or equipment.

Graphene nanotubes, a new generation anti-static agent, create a 3D conductive reinforcing network within the material, starting at ultralow concentrations of just 0.04 wt.%. Thanks to this minimal concentration, nanotubes preserve an up to 80% product transparency and maintain a haze value of less than 6%. This results from the unique morphology of graphene nanotubes. With an extremely high length-to-diameter ratio and a large surface area, coupled with excellent conductive and thermal properties and high strength, graphene nanotubes guarantee stable, permanent electrical resistivity of 10^4–10^9 Ω/sq within the material. This enables an anti-dust effect and touch-screen compatibility of the film.

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Vilson Jiang, Sales Manager for Coatings and Composites at OCSiAl China, elaborates:“Transparent conductive films manufactured with graphene nanotubes can even be applied without a primer, simplifying the production process and increasing the cost efficiency of the final product.”

Beyond film coatings, graphene nanotubes are widely applied in other types of polymer coatings, such as ESD flooring, conductive primers, anti-static powder coatings, tank lining coatings, etc. Currently, graphene nanotube solutions for coatings are being produced in Europe and Asia by OCSiAl and its OEM partners.