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During the manufacturing of electronic devices, such as semiconductors and LCD and plasma display screens, the smallest speck of dust or other tiny foreign particle can turn a product potentially selling for thousands of dollars into mere scrap. Because dust has such an enormous effect on production yield, Mitsubishi Paper Mills and TAYCA Corp. have co-developed a low-dust electrically conductive wiper for clean room usage. The wiper, called the Nano-wiper™, is a popular and effective way to remove dust without producing static electricity, which can also do great harm. It was developed by combining TAYCA's electrically conductive polymer nanoparticle adhesion technology with Mitsubishi Paper Mills' high-performance wiper products.

Researchers theorize that electrically conductive polymer nanoparticles form a coating with a three-dimensional network structure that serves as an effective electrically conductive surface, despite an extremely small amount of electrically conductive polymer macromolecules.

Furthermore, the immensely strong adhesion between the base material and the electrically conductive layer ensures that dusting caused by particles falling off is reduced to a minimum. This product is used for cleaning in clean rooms at present, and the partners are planning to widen the market to include other tasks that require conductivity and elimination of static charge.

The nanoparticle coating that covers the Nano-wiper™ makes for extremely effective dusting. 100 nanometers (nm) equals about 1/1,000th of the width of a human hair

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has established a proprietary technology as well as the facilities for manufacturing, as single pieces, the upper and lower domes of liquid-oxygen and liquid-hydrogen fuel tanks for the H-IIB, Japan's next-generation flagship rocket. It is scheduled for initial launching in fiscal 2008.

Fuel tanks constitute the bulk of a rocket's volume and are key components of ultra low-temperature technology. Among the tank parts, domes in particular are of supreme importance in terms of cost and product quality requirements. Before now, only two manufacturers in the world could produce domes larger than 4 meters across, meaning Japan had to import tank domes from overseas. MHI's new technology brings the Japanese space program much closer to the independent production capability that it has long sought.

The rocket tank dome, with a diameter of 5.2 meters, is the world's largest single-piece spin-formed dome. Domestic dome production was accomplished by combining research carried out at MHI's Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works with machining technology cultivated through metals machinery production at the Hiroshima Machinery Works. With this achievement, MHI will contribute significantly not only to the attainment of autonomous domestic rocket production and operation but also to enhanced competitiveness in rocketry through higher product quality and lower cost.

The H-IIB is currently under joint development by JAXA and MHI as an enhanced version of the H-IIA, the present flagship rocket. The H-IIB features two LE-7A rocket engines for the first stage and other changes that give it a maximum launching capacity of 8-ton GTO payloads, twice that of the H-IIA. The H-IIB is expected to be used to launch the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) that will provide logistics to the international