Pure Resources Appoints TEMPERON Lead at Rice, Publishes CNTF Performance Data
Key Takeaways
- Dr Jong Ha Park, a postdoctoral fellow at Rice University with a UC Berkeley PhD and 18 publications including work in Nature Communications and Science Advances, has been appointed lead researcher on the TEMPERON™ carbon nanotube fibre programme.
- Peer-reviewed data published in the journal Small confirms CNTF sustained more than 1,000 thermal cycles in air at 25 MW/kg with no measurable resistance change, while a comparable nichrome sample failed after just five cycles at a lower 20 MW/kg power density.
- CNTF failure temperature reached approximately 2,300°C versus approximately 1,400°C for nichrome in non-oxidising gases — a performance gap that directly addresses the thermal ceiling constraining AI data centre and defence platform design.
- Pure Resources holds DARPA ERIS Marketplace Awardable status for its CNTF 3D heat sink solution, with structured engagement with US defence and national laboratory counterparties ongoing and patent and licensing documentation currently being prepared.
- The TEMPERON™ programme sits within a three-pillar integrated platform alongside the Garnet Hills graphite and garnet project in Western Australia and a US Department of Energy Strategic Partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory targeting heavy rare earth elements and yttrium.
TEMPERON™ marks dual milestone with key Rice University appointment and landmark thermal cycling data
Pure Resources Limited (ASX: PR1) has delivered a two-part update on its TEMPERON™ programme: a dedicated lead researcher secured at Rice University, and peer-reviewed data published in the journal Small that quantifies carbon nanotube fibre (CNTF) performance under extreme thermal conditions.
TEMPERON™ is Pure Resources’ company-owned brand and trade mark for its CNTF thermal management programme, consolidating all CNTF activity under a single identity. It supersedes prior external references to HyperFlux and to the Rice University collaboration. The collaboration agreement with Rice University, including its joint intellectual property ownership provisions, is unchanged.
The data makes the performance gap concrete. CNTF sustained more than 1,000 thermal cycles in air at 25 MW/kg with no measurable change in room temperature resistance. A comparable nichrome sample failed after just five cycles at a lower 20 MW/kg. CNTF failure temperature in non-oxidising gases reached approximately 2,300°C, against approximately 1,400°C for nichrome.
Rocco Tassone, Chief Executive Officer, Pure Resources Limited
“Two things matter in this update. Following an intensive search for the perfect TEMPERON lead we have made a key appointment and welcome Dr. Jong Ha Park tothe programme positioned at Rice. Secodnly the faculty group that leads our work has just published peer reviewed data in Small showing how carbon nanotube fibre behaves at temperatures where copper and aluminium are no longer an option. That thermal ceiling is the constraint data centre operators and defence platform integrators are running into today and something we aim to solve.”
When big ASX news breaks, our subscribers know first
Dr Jong Ha Park joins TEMPERON™ programme as lead researcher at Rice University
Dr Jong Ha Park has been appointed lead researcher on the TEMPERON™ programme. He is a postdoctoral fellow in the Preston Innovation Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rice University, working directly under Professor Daniel J. Preston, one of four Rice faculty leads on the programme.
Dr Park holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley (2026), completed in the laboratory of Professor Liwei Lin at the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center, with MS and BS degrees from Korea University. His specialism spans thermal transport and scalable device fabrication.
His publication record includes:
- Co-author, Nature Communications (2023): passive cooling system for photovoltaic modules reporting an average cell temperature reduction of 15.1°C and average cooling power of 403 W/m²
- Co-author, Science Advances (2025): ammonia sorption thermal battery research
- Co-author, Green Chemistry (2022): carbon nanotube and silicone oil emulsions research
- 18 publications and 273 citations recorded as at 17 August 2026
Professors Matteo Pasquali, Daniel Preston, Geoffrey Wehmeyer and Vanessa Sanchez continue to lead the Rice faculty team. Dr Park adds dedicated senior research capacity, not a change of direction. A named, credentialled researcher now anchored to the programme is a signal of execution momentum rather than a structural shift.
Peer-reviewed data puts CNTF performance in a different class to conventional materials
The Rice faculty group published results independently in the journal Small (2026, DOI 10.1002/smll.202513355). Pure Resources is not an author of, party to, or funder of that study. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Energy, Shell, the Welch Foundation, the Carbon Hub, and NASA. The study tests CNTF used as a resistive gas heating element and does not constitute a test of any Pure Resources product.
What the data shows
| Metric | CNTF Result | Nichrome Result | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thermal cycles in air | 1,000+ cycles at 25 MW/kg (no measurable resistance change) | Failed after 5 cycles at 20 MW/kg | Air flow 2.4 ±0.2 m/s |
| Failure temperature | ~2,300°C | ~1,400°C | Non-oxidising gases |
| High vacuum cycling | No room temperature resistance drift, 100 cycles at 134 MW/kg (modelled max temp 1,810°C) | Not stated | High vacuum |
| Heat transfer coefficient | 1,500–1,700 W/m²/K | Not stated | Forced convection in air |
The study also found that CNTF fabrics heated more uniformly than rigid nichrome mesh, with reduced hot spot formation. The authors attribute this to axial thermal conductivity spreading heat along the fibre length.
The properties validated by this research — thermal stability at extreme temperature, heat spreading that suppresses hot spots, and compatibility with woven and knitted textile manufacturing — are the same properties the TEMPERON™ heat sink programme depends on.
Why thermal management at extreme temperatures is now a critical problem
Accelerator thermal design power is now the binding constraint on how densely AI data centres can pack computing hardware into a rack. Put simply: the chips run so hot that the cooling system, not the chip itself, determines how much compute you can fit in a given space.
Conventional copper and aluminium fin architectures are reaching their practical limits in conductivity, mass and geometry. CNTF is a candidate next-generation material that addresses those constraints directly. At roughly half the density of aluminium, with axial thermal conductivity of up to approximately 600 W/m/K and thermal anisotropy above 20 times, CNTF can be formed by three-dimensional (3D) knitting into fin geometries that metals cannot replicate.
The next major ASX story will hit our subscribers first
Next steps and strategic context
Pure Resources has outlined the following programme objectives under the Rice University collaboration:
- CNTF thermal property optimisation
- 3D knitted heat sink design
- Benchtop demonstration against conventional aluminium and copper fin architectures under conditions representative of data centre operation
The company holds DARPA ERIS Marketplace Awardable status for its CNTF 3D heat sink solution, and structured engagement with US defence and national laboratory counterparties continues. Patent and licensing documentation is currently being prepared, and TEMPERON™ trade mark applications are being progressed (registration has not yet been granted).
Pure Resources operates an integrated platform across three pillars: the upstream Garnet Hills Project (graphite and garnet, Western Australia), a US Department of Energy Strategic Partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory targeting heavy rare earth elements and yttrium, and the TEMPERON™ downstream programme.
The Garnet Hills defence materials platform anchors the upstream pillar of that integrated strategy, with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory partnership targeting heavy rare earth elements and yttrium alongside the graphite and garnet project in Western Australia.
Get ASX Tech Materials News Before the Market Moves
Big News Blast delivers FREE breaking ASX alerts to your inbox within minutes of release, complete with in-depth analysis already done. Join 30,000+ subscribers staying ahead of market-moving developments across mining, energy, and advanced materials. Click the “Free Alerts” button at Discovery Alert to start receiving alerts the moment news breaks.