Fullerene Activities : Mitsubishi Corporation

C60, the typical type
of fullerene
Fullerene is said to be a third carbon allotrope following graphite and diamonds. It is a nanotech material with excellent scientific, physical, and optical properties. There are high expectations of its application as a material for lithium ion cells, solar cells, and fuel cells as well as in various other fields, such as treatment of cancer and AIDS. The three doctors who discovered it were awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1996. Mitsubishi Corporation had taken notice of fullerene three years earlier, and steadily made approaches to it. In 1999, it established the firm Fullerene International, which holds the material patent to fullerene, and instituted the fund Nanotech Partners for the identification of and investment in promising nanotech projects.

Mitsubishi Corporation’s strategy for commercialization is characterized by action from both the supply and demand sides. It calls for a stable supply of quality materials at low cost to the market through mass production of fullerene, in order to generate demand through the market mechanism. At the same time, it requires the company to expand the market itself by active involvement in the development of viable applications for the material.

Frontier Carbon
Frontier Carbon Corporation, a company established together with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, has already moved into the stage of semi-regular production of 40 tons of fullerene a year with a view to lowering the cost through the mass-production effect. It plans to increase the yearly volume to 1,500 tons eventually.

On the application development front, Mitsubishi Corporation established the firms Proton C60 Power Corporation (PC60) and Vitamin C60 Bioresearch Corporation (VC60) in the fields of electrolyte membranes for fuel cells and life sciences, respectively. PC60 has succeeded in trial manufacture of a methanol fuel cell capable of long-term use in personal computers and portable information terminals, and is working to bring out a practical model in a near future. Focusing on fullerene’s ability to eliminate active oxygen, VC60 successfully created a refined version that can be used not only as a cosmetics constituent but also a pharmaceutical material, and a water-soluble version that is highly effective for controlling the spread of cancer.