Que: For readers who may be unfamiliar with nanomaterials, what makes SWCNTs so unique, and why are they considered a game-changing material for future technologies?

Ans: Traditionally, humans have relied on materials that occur naturally. Metals such as copper and iron already existed in nature, and over time we learned how to locate rich deposits, extract them, refine them, and use them for various applications. For thousands of years, our progress was largely driven by discovering and improving the use of these naturally available materials.

However, beginning in the 19th century, as our understanding of chemistry and atomic structure advanced, we gained the ability not just to use natural materials, but to engineer entirely new ones with properties tailored to specific applications. This marked a major shift in materials science and led to the development of plastics and a wide range of synthetic polymers.

As scientists continued searching for materials with exceptional strength and performance, they realised that carbon offered unique possibilities. Carbon atoms can form extremely strong sp² bonds, among the strongest chemical bonds found in nature. This understanding eventually led to the discovery and development of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs).

SWCNTs are a unique engineered material in which carbon atoms are arranged in a precise cylindrical structure. This arrangement gives them an extraordinary combination of properties. They are the strongest known material by tensile strength, possess exceptional stiffness, exhibit excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, and can behave as either metals or semiconductors depending on their structure. Their electronic properties can also be tuned by changing their diameter, allowing different band gaps to be achieved.

Because of this remarkable combination of mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties, single-walled carbon nanotubes represent an entirely new class of materials with applications across electronics, energy, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing.

Que: India is increasingly focusing on self-reliance in advanced materials and semiconductor manufacturing. How do you see NoPo contributing to the country's deep-tech and strategic manufacturing ambitions?

Ans: Historically, human civilisations have been defined by the materials that shaped their progress, and nations that mastered the production of advanced materials often emerged as global leaders. This belief has guided our vision: if India could develop the capability to manufacture and apply the world's strongest known material, it could create a significant strategic advantage.

SWCNTs are approximately 100 times stronger than steel, making them one of the strongest materials ever developed. This inspired us to focus on solving the challenges of manufacturing and scaling their production.

When NoPo began its journey, we could produce only a few micrograms of nanotubes per hour. Today, that has scaled to several hundred grams and even kilograms, giving us access to one of the strongest known materials and enabling a wide range of applications.

When we showcase our material at conferences, its performance is best reflected through the experiences of our users. Audiences are often surprised to see an Indian company among the select global players capable of producing this material.

Beyond developing SWCNTs, we have also established the manufacturing processes required for their production and have shared this knowledge with other companies to help them build their own technologies. This collaborative approach has contributed to the growth of a broader ecosystem around nanotube technology, while our experience across diverse technologies has helped drive continued innovation.

Que: SWCNTs have applications across semiconductors, energy storage, aerospace, electronics, and mobility. Which of these sectors do you believe will witness the fastest commercial adoption over the next five years, and why?

Ans: SWCNTs have an exceptionally wide range of applications, with more than 100 identified use cases spanning industries from advanced materials to biotechnology and cancer research.

One of their most immediate and commercially established applications is in improving electrostatic discharge (ESD) performance and providing anti-static properties. What makes SWCNTs remarkable is that they require an extremely small loading typically around 0.1 wt percent to make a polymer anti-static and electrically conductive. This is an incredibly low concentration for such a significant performance improvement. By incorporating this tiny amount of nanotubes, manufacturers can eliminate static electricity issues, such as the electric shocks commonly experienced from static discharge, while maintaining the polymer's original properties.

Another major application is in advanced battery technology. Today's high-performance batteries, especially those designed for compact devices with high energy density, rely on silicon to achieve greater capacity. However, silicon is inherently unstable during repeated charging and discharging. Single-wall carbon nanotubes play a critical role in stabilising silicon, enabling batteries to deliver higher capacity, faster charge and discharge rates, and longer cycle life.

As a result, SWCNTs have become a de facto standard and an essential component in many premium batteries. High-end smartphones and advanced electric vehicles that offer superior charging performance and extended battery life increasingly depend on this technology.

Beyond these commercial applications, SWCNTs are also driving the next generation of semiconductor and transistor research. They are being explored as a key material for developing devices that could be up to 1,000 times smaller than today's state-of-the-art 2-nanometer process nodes. While these applications are still in active research and development and are expected to take another three to five years before reaching widespread commercialisation, their potential is transformative.

As these technologies mature, they are expected to fundamentally reshape electronic devices. Future nanotube-based semiconductors could consume dramatically less energy, reduce manufacturing costs, enable significantly higher transistor densities, and deliver greater stability than current silicon-based technologies.

Que: Electric vehicles require lighter materials and higher-performing batteries. How is NoPo's technology helping improve battery performance, charging speed, and overall EV efficiency?

Ans: The advantage comes from the unique properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes themselves. They form a highly efficient conductive network within the battery, helping stabilise the silicon used in the anode.

This allows manufacturers to use higher amounts of silicon, which increases the battery's energy density without increasing its size or weight. The nanotubes also improve structural stability, resulting in longer cycle life and enabling faster charging and discharging.

In simple terms, you get a battery of the same size and weight, but with higher capacity, longer life, and faster charging. That's why single-walled carbon nanotubes are becoming a key material for next-generation smartphones and electric vehicles.

Q Beyond batteries, where do you see the biggest opportunities for SWCNTs in India's clean energy ecosystem, including hydrogen, solar or grid-scale storage?

Ans: One of the most exciting applications of single-walled carbon nanotubes is water filtration. At NoPo, we've developed a process to separate nanotubes by diameter, allowing us to select the ones that transport water molecules most efficiently.

This enables water to move through the nanotubes up to 100 times faster, allowing membranes to achieve much higher water flux. In practical terms, the same membrane area can produce significantly more clean water. For applications like reverse osmosis (RO), where only about 30 percent of the input water is typically recovered, nanotube-based membranes can substantially improve water recovery without a major increase in cost.

We've also demonstrated around three times better performance than conventional membranes in desalination, which is a significant leap for the industry.

Beyond water treatment, we're working on several emerging applications, including solid-state batteries, sodium-ion batteries for grid-scale energy storage, transparent conductive coatings, and even exploratory work in hair regrowth. For example, we're collaborating with Stallion in Israel to use nanotubes in sodium-ion batteries, helping improve their capacity and performance for large-scale energy storage. These applications highlight the versatility of single-walled carbon nanotubes and their potential to transform multiple industries.

Que: NoPo recently secured USD 3 million in pre-Series A funding. How will this investment accelerate your commercialisation roadmap, manufacturing scale-up, and R&D efforts?

Ans: We raised this funding two years ago from Micelio Fund and Inflexor Ventures, who believed in our vision and technology. Since then, we've increased the throughput of our reactors by 40 times, significantly scaling our manufacturing capabilities.

The funding has also enabled us to work closely with customers, conduct pilot-scale trials, and successfully demonstrate the performance of our nanotube-based products. It has been instrumental in taking us from technology development to commercial validation.

Que: Your company sources over 90 percent of its raw materials locally by value. How important is supply chain localisation in strengthening resilience and reducing the environmental footprint of advanced materials manufacturing?

Ans: Building a resilient and largely indigenous supply chain has been a priority for us from the very beginning. Early on, we focused on understanding the raw materials we needed and whether we could source them locally. Our goal was to reduce dependencies and build a manufacturing ecosystem that could scale reliably.

The pandemic reinforced the importance of this approach. It highlighted how vulnerable global supply chains can be, so we accelerated our efforts to bring critical technologies and capabilities in-house.

In the early days, we also had little choice and many of the systems we needed were either unavailable or too expensive, so we had to design and build them ourselves. Over time, we realised that this wasn't just a cost-saving measure; it became a competitive advantage. By developing our own equipment and processes, we were able to create manufacturing methods that didn’t exist before.

Along the way, we've worked closely with local vendors and partners, growing alongside them. We've learned from both successes and setbacks, and today we've built a robust ecosystem where most of our components are sourced domestically. Our partners are deeply invested in the journey because they, too, get to work on cutting-edge technology, making it a win-win collaboration.