CNTF outperforms copper and aluminium.
Pure Resources is developing a Carbon Nanotube Fibre platform with Rice University, with thermal conductivity confirmed up to ~600 W/m·K — approximately 1.5× copper and ~2.5–3× aluminium. The Company's Oak Ridge National Laboratory Strategic Partnership Projects Agreement adds a heavy rare earth recovery pathway from the same orebody.
CNTF vs Copper & Aluminium
On a like-for-like conductivity basis, CNTF is approximately 1.5× copper and ~2.5–3× aluminium.
- CNTF~600 W/m·KCarbon Nanotube Fibre · Pure × Rice University
- Copper~400 W/m·KIndustry reference (~385–400 W/m·K)
- Aluminium~235 W/m·K~205–235 W/m·K
Source: Pure Resources ASX announcement, 05 May 2026 — "CNTF Thermal Conductivity Outperforms Copper and Aluminium." Conductivity tuneable through ongoing post-processing optimisation under the Rice University collaboration.
Heat is the new mission constraint.
After five decades of fixed performance from copper and aluminium, thermal management is now the bottleneck across AI infrastructure, defence systems and high-power electronics.
AI Data Centres
Hyperscale AI accelerator power density is creating critical cooling constraints. Rack-level heat is now a primary capex and capacity bottleneck.
Defence Systems
Radar power loads, directed-energy weapons and autonomous platforms demand thermal solutions that conventional metals cannot deliver within the SWaP envelope.
Advanced Electronics
Edge inference, power electronics and compact thermal envelopes need step-change conductivity in flexible, textile-processable form factors.
The material that replaces metal.
Carbon Nanotube Fibre (CNTF) is an assembly of trillions of nanotubes spun into a continuous fibre — flexible, textile-processable, and demonstrably more conductive than copper and aluminium per the Company's 05 May 2026 ASX disclosure.
Verified performance
- ~600 W/m·KCNTF thermal conductivity (Rice University data)
- ~1.5×Copper conductivity (industry reference ~385–400 W/m·K)
- ~2.5–3×Aluminium conductivity (~205–235 W/m·K)
- Tuneable ceilingConductivity progressively optimised through annealing, doping and spinning at Rice
Form factor advantage
Copper and aluminium achieve their conductivity in rigid, machined or extruded form. CNTF achieves comparable and superior conductivity while remaining flexible and textile-processable — enabling 3D knitted, braided and conformable thermal architectures that are physically impossible to replicate in metal.
Pure Resources has executed a legally binding R&D collaboration with Rice University focused on CNTF synthesis, thermal architectures and textile-processable heat-management structures. The CNTF feedstock thesis is anchored by large-to-jumbo flake graphite confirmed at the Company's 100% owned Garnet Hills Project.
- 01 ✓ Thermal conductivity vs Cu / Al (released 05 May 2026)
- 02 ◌ Weight efficiency & specific conductivity
- 03 ◌ Thermal anisotropy in textile architectures
- 04 ◌ System-level heat performance
The ORNL Strategic Partnership Projects Agreement.
Pure Resources has executed Strategic Partnership Projects Agreement No. NFE 25 10985 with UT Battelle, LLC — the facility management contractor operating Oak Ridge National Laboratory under US DoE Prime Contract DE AC05 00OR22725 — to develop an economical method for recovery of Heavy Rare Earth Elements plus Yttrium (HREE+Y) from Garnet Hills industrial garnet.
A second, government-aligned value pathway
The ORNL programme places Pure Resources inside the US Department of Energy critical materials ecosystem. Andradite garnet (Ca₃Fe₂(SiO₄)₃) — the dominant garnet species at Garnet Hills — is structurally receptive to substitution of HREE into its dodecahedral site. If validated, HREE+Y represents a third revenue stream from the same mined tonne, alongside abrasive garnet and large-to-jumbo flake graphite.
- DoDDPA Title III · Office of Strategic Capital · IBAS
- DoEARPA-E · Advanced Materials & Manufacturing · Critical Materials
- AlliedDARPA · AUKUS Pillar 2 · US-Australia Critical Minerals Framework
References: ASX announcement 05 May 2026 — "CNTF Thermal Conductivity Outperforms Copper and Aluminium"; ASX announcement May 2026 — "Defence Materials Platform Strategy". R&D and commercialisation activities remain at an early stage and are subject to standard technology development risk.