Bayer MaterialScience has opened a new pilot facility for the manufacture of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at Chempark Leverkusen (Germany). The company has invested some €22 million in the planning, development and construction of the facility, which is the largest of its kind in the world and has an annual capacity of 200 metric tons.

By investing in one of the key technologies of the future, Bayer MaterialScience is looking to gain a head start in supplying the demand for a whole host of applications for multi-wall carbon nanotubes, which the company is marketing under the trade name Baytubes.

"Current forecasts predict an annual growth rate of 25% percent for carbon nanotubes. Within 10 years, the market is expected to be worth $2 billion," said Dr. Joachim Wolff, a member of Bayer MaterialScience's executive committee and head of the Coatings, Adhesives, Specialties segment. "We are also expecting nanotechnology to create a total of 100,000 new jobs in the German industry in the medium term."