The Graphene-Info newsletter (December 14, 2021)

A team of researchers, led by Professor Sir Andre Geim at The University of Manchester, in collaboration with scientists from Belgium and China, used low-energy electrons to make individual atomic-scale holes in suspended graphene. The holes came in sizes down to about two angstroms, smaller than even the smallest atoms like helium and hydrogen.

The researchers report that they achieved practically perfect selectivity (better than 99.9%) for such gases as helium or hydrogen with respect to nitrogen, methane or xenon. Also, air molecules (oxygen and nitrogen) pass through the pores easily relative to carbon dioxide, which is >95% captured.

Directa Plus has announced plans to raise £7 million (around USD$9,445,000) in a share placing to help accelerate the development of its graphene-based products.

“Directa Plus has made consistent progress towards its goal of commercializing its graphene products and processes with a high quality, growing roster of customers,” said Sir Peter Middleton, Directa Plus non-executive chairman. “The fundraising will enable the company to accelerate that progress by providing funds for investment in what the board considers to be exciting opportunities".

The Norway-based CrayNano, spun-off from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and specializes in UVC LED packaged chips for disinfection of water, surface and air based on a technology combining graphene and nanostructures, has received a grant of over USD$1,565,000 from the Norwegian Research Council of Norway for a project titled "UV-C LED using nanowires-on-graphene".

"This shows the interest and support of CrayoNano and our disruptive technology. There is a real need for better disinfection solutions, and this grant re-affirms CrayoNano's vision for a sustainable and healthier future for all." said Jo Uthus, CEO of CrayoNano.

Researchers from Science and Technology (IST) Austria, in collaboration with scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, have developed a theoretical framework of unconventional superconductivity, which addresses the questions raised by earlier work that detected unique superconductivity in 'magic angle' trilayer graphene.

Superconductivity relies on the pairing of free electrons in the material despite their repulsion arising from their equal negative charges. This pairing happens between electrons of opposite spin through vibrations of the crystal lattice. Spin is a quantum property of particles comparable, but not identical to rotation. The mentioned kind of pairing is the case at least in conventional superconductors. "Applied to trilayer graphene," co-lead-author from IST, Areg Ghazaryan, points out, "we identified two puzzles that seem difficult to reconcile with conventional superconductivity."

Applied Graphene Materials (AGM), the producer of specialty graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) dispersions, has launched a range of industrial anti-corrosion primers based on its Genable technology.

Graphene nanoplatelets have been shown to provide highly effective barrier and anti-corrosion properties in paints and coatings at extremely low loading levels. AGM reports that following outstanding results through extensive inhouse research and testing, it has developed two new prototype paint systems using its graphene products.