Mitsubishi Corporation has been involved in the commercialization of nano-carbon for over 10 years.
In 1993, before the word nanotechnology had become as common as it is today, Mitsubishi Corporation kicked things off with a feasibility study with U.S. partners MER and RCTon the commercialization of fullerenes, which were already said to have large potential, and business development utilizing its material patent, which was owned by RCT at the time.
After persistent effort to deliver this new material to the market, everything started to accelerate in 1998 when the material patent was issued in Japan, Europe, Korea and Australia. Mitsubishi Corporation established FIC with MER and RCT, and had the company manage and plan commercialization for all nano-carbon related patents, including the fullerene material patent and plans for actual commercialization. Mitsubishi Corporation also organized the International Fullerene Workshop 2001 in Tokyo, and eventually established the Frontier Carbon Corporation with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and Nanotech Partners for mass production of the material. Mitsubishi Corporation also founded a venture company, Vitamin C60 Bioresearch, which develops life science application of fullerenes. Mitsubishi Corporation is aggressively disseminating this material and also independently developing applications for the materials.
Fully utilizing its know-how, strong IP position and network acquired through long experience in the nano-carbon area, Mitsubishi Corporation will continue driving the commercialization of these new, highly promising materials.