The composite can conduct electricity just as well as electrolytic copper , but because it contains no metal it is strongly resistant to alkaline environments and will not oxidize.

Shinano Kenshi has also developed a way to mass produce this material and it plans to begin shipping samples in or after May. One possible application for the composite is the electrodes of fuel cells.

Carbon nanotubes are very good conductors of both electricity and heat. Composites made by mixing the nanotubes with copper or other metals retain both of these features but tend to corrode. Composites made by mixing the nanotubes with resin are electrically conductive but are not good heat conductors.

The new composite is made by mixing nanotubes into a solution of carbon silk, which is obtained by sintering silk at high temperature. Mixing of the two components with ultrasound yields a composite powder that can conduct heat around 10 times better than nanotube-resin composites.