Denka buys into fullerene venture

Denka has acquired a 50% stake in the fullerene maker Frontier Carbon from Mitsubishi Corporation. Frontier, founded in Japan in 2001, supplies C60, C70, and higher-order fullerenes and blends. Because of the conductive and thermal properties of fullerenes, Frontier has been developing them as conductors in organic thin-film solar cells and as electron transporting layers in perovskite solar cells. Denka has experience in carbon nanomaterials and in the production of acetylene black, which is used in lithium-ion batteries.