NoPo Nanotechnologies

Gadhadar Reddy's ambition to go to Mars led him to explore the possibility of producing carbon nanotubes in India, despite being told it was not possible. He named his company NoPo Nanotechnologies, short for Not Possible, and has been working on scaling up production of single-walled carbon nanotubes since 2011.

Reddy's interest in space and materials science began in his childhood, and he eventually turned his attention to carbon nanotubes, which have extraordinary mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. However, manufacturing them consistently and at industrial scale has been a significant challenge.

A Mars dream led to a materials problem

Reddy's search for materials that could make future space missions lighter, stronger, and more efficient led him to carbon nanotubes. He co-founded NoPo with Dr Robert Kelley Bradley, who had worked under Nobel laureate Richard Smalley at Rice University. The company has been supplying high-quality single-walled carbon nanotubes since 2015 and now produces different grades for various applications.

The Nobel connection behind NoPo's technology

NoPo's technology is based on the HiPCO process, which was developed by Richard Smalley and his team. The company has re-engineered and revived this process in Bengaluru, focusing on making it stable, repeatable, and suitable for industrial-scale production. According to NoPo, the company's pilot production line has been inaugurated, and a larger facility is being set up in Bengaluru, which could become the world's second-largest carbon nanotube production facility.

What exactly is NoPo trying to make?

NoPo produces single-walled carbon nanotubes for applications including batteries, electronics, and biomedical research. The company has received support from the Technology Development Board for a feasibility study examining the use of its HiPCO single-walled carbon nanotubes in sodium-ion batteries. The project aims to assess potential improvements in areas including electrical conductivity, energy density, and battery cycle life.

The next target: batteries and large-scale production

The company's ambitions are now moving beyond laboratory-scale science, with plans to supply battery manufacturing lines directly. NoPo's claims about its production scale and performance have not been independently verified, but the company's progress in developing advanced materials could have significant implications for India's ambitions in EVs, batteries, semiconductors, and space technology.

The story of NoPo Nanotechnologies is one of persistence and deep-tech ambition, with the company spending years working on a difficult manufacturing and materials-science problem. While the company's products may not be household names, they could eventually find their way into the batteries, electronics, and other technologies that power everyday products. For Gadhadar Reddy, the story began with a much bigger destination - Mars - and the company's name is a testament to his determination to prove that building the technology he needed in India was indeed possible.