Technology
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Health and Safety
Unidym, a pioneer and leader in the carbon nanotechnology industry, is committed to the health and safety of its employees, partners and customers. Carbon nanotubes are new materials which hold great promise due to their extraordinary electrical, mechanical, optical, thermal, and chemical properties. Their current applications range from improving consumer electronics, to delivering medicine to cells, to strengthening airplane components. Like thousands of other new materials which enter the market each year, their properties are continually being evaluated and their safe-handling procedures continue to be modified. This ongoing research is occurring at multiple academic, governmental and industry organizations. We support the efforts of these organizations and affirm that their commitment to safety research in order to create a framework of “best practices” is in the interests of the industry, society and the environment. Likewise, at Unidym we are committed to our responsibility for safe and environmentally sound handling of this new technology and material. Unidym’s Products Many of the nanotubes marketed by Unidym are incorporated into transparent conductive films for the display and touch panel industries. We also sell nanotubes to select customers as powders and in suspensions in liquids, also called inks. Carbon nanotubes come in many different forms and purities. They range from flexible, thin, few-walled or single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) to rigid, long, thick, multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs), with a spectrum of characteristics and properties in-between. Unidym’s nanotubes are very specialized, high molecular weight fullerene nanotubes which have single or very few walls. They are thin, flexible, and typically short (less than 5 micron in length). They have a strong tendency to rope and tangle. Multiwall nanotubes are typically long (greater than 10 micron) fibrillar structures with a high concentration of defects and little tendency to rope and tangle. MWNTs are used in a variety of systems to add strength to polymeric solids, however, Unidym does not manufacture or market this type of carbon nanotubes. In consideration of the safe-handling requirements of these new materials, Unidym does not sell nanotubes directly to the public. The customers for our ink and powder products are companies and research institutions that use the nanotubes as a component in a final product. All customers that purchase nanotube products from Unidym receive the appropriate Materials Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the product. The MSDS details the currently accepted best practices for personal protective equipment and outlines safe handling practices for Unidym’s nanomaterials. The MSDSs for Unidym’s nanotube inks and powders are available on the web at http://www.unidym.com/products/materials.html. Manufacturing Safety The chemical industry has developed well-established procedures for protecting workers who are handling new chemicals of unknown toxicity, such as the nanotube powders, which we manufacture and use to make transparent conductive films. At Unidym, we practice these established procedures in the handling of our materials. Unidym’s carbon nanotube products can be safely managed with engineering controls such as closed reactor systems, hoods, and mechanical ventilation systems. In the absence of engineering controls, personal protective equipment provides adequate safe handling protection. In addition to these measures taken to ensure the safety of our employees we are concerned with our community. Unidym has established procedures to protect the environment from the waste products of our manufacturing processes. Waste materials resulting from the production of our products are disposed of in strict accordance with local, state and federal regulations. Consumer Safety To the end user of products incorporating Unidym carbon nanotube materials, there is typically minimal risk of exposure to the nanotubes. In all Unidym’s customer’s electronics and structural applications, the nanotubes are bound in other materials, typically as a component in a polymeric solid or film, isolated from the consumer and environment. Unidym believes that nanotechnology is a key technology of the 21st century, with great promise for society and Unidym is committed to the safe handling of these new materials. We support the work of multiple organizations focused on the Environmental Health and Safety of nanotechnology, specifically carbon nanotubes, in order to ensure the protection of our employees, customers, product consumers, and the environment.
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