US Patent 8178006 - Nanofiber aggregate

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8178006.html

This patent from Denso Corporation teaches a heat treatment of electrically conductive carbon nanofibers to create an outer insulating layer of boron nitride nanofibers. Claim 1 reads:

1. An electrically conductive carbon wire comprising a fiber aggregate, wherein:

fine carbon fibers form a core portion of the fiber aggregate; and

fine boron nitride fibers, which are formed by substituting carbon atoms of the fine carbon fibers by boron atoms and nitrogen atoms, form an outer layer portion of the fiber aggregate.

US Patent 8084011 - Method of increasing thickness of carbon nanotube arrays

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8084011.html

Most of the techniques used to mass produce carbon nanotube arrays involve chemical vapor deposition (CVD). However, there is a limit to the thickness of the nanotubes which can be grown due to the effect of reaction byproduct gas and an excess raw material gas during CVD growth. This patent from the Denso Corporation of Japan teaches a growth method to deal with this problem and grow nanotubes with a greater thickness to improve the efficiency of mass production. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of manufacturing a vertically aligned carbon nanotube by using a chemical vapor deposition method, comprising the steps in the order named of:

providing a substrate and a catalyst to be fixed on the substrate, in a reaction chamber;

heating the catalyst fixed on the substrate in the reaction chamber;

filling-up the reaction chamber with a raw material gas serving as a carbon source, thereby synthesizing vertically aligned carbon nanotubes in the reaction chamber;

after a film thickness of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes synthesized on the substrate has increased by at least a measurable amount, exhausting a reaction byproduct gas from the reaction chamber; and

repeating the filling-up step and the exhausting step until a film of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes having a desired film thickness is manufactured.

US Patent 7323432 - Auto exhaust purification using nanofilament array

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7323432.html

This patent from Denso is at the intersection of nanotech and cleantech and includes some basic claims to nanofilaments for purifying automobile exhaust gas. Claim 1 reads:

1. An automobile exhaust gas purifying device comprising a catalyst assembly comprising a substrate, nanofilaments which have a nanometer-size diameter and are formed on the substrate, and particles which have a nanometer-size diameter of not more than approximately 100 nanometers, at least one of the nanofilaments and the particles having a catalytic function; wherein the nanofilaments extend from a surface of the substrate; and the particles are supported on the nanofilament.

US Patent 7276185 - Fused silver nanocrystal electrical conductor

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7276185.html

Using microsized and nanosized metallic particles as fillers is known to achieve a variety of conductive polymers and adhesives. However, difficulty in handling nanoscale particles and the lack of a uniform distribution of such particles in a binding matrix have made it difficult to form conductors with nanocrystalline metals. This patent from Denso Corporation teaches a sintering process to form silver microparticles from nanocrystals to facilitate the incorporation of these materials in a matrix. Claim 1 reads:

1. A conductor composition comprising conductive particles (30a) with electrical conductivity and a solvent, wherein said conductive particles (30a) comprise crystallized Ag fillers (31) having a crystal size of 10 nm or less, and each of said crystallized Ag fillers (31) having a particle diameter of 0.1 .mu.m or more and 20 .mu.m or less.