Graphene-Info newsletter

Huawei to invest millions in graphene research

Sources indicate that Chinese telecommunications equipment giant Huawei is expected to announce an investment in graphene with aims of deepening scientific collaboration between China and Britain.

Huawei is said to invest millions of pounds into a research project led by The University of Manchester's National Graphene Institute. The research project will aim to examine prospective applications of graphene to the information and communications technology sectors. The deal might be one of a series of recent Chinese-British partnerships.

PEN announces launch of graphene-based product for use in pharmaceuticals

PEN (Products Enabled by Nanotechnology), a U.S-based company that seeks to harness the potential of nanotechnology in real-world applications, has announced the launch of a graphene-based product to be used in the production of nuclear pharmaceuticals that will be used as diagnostic imaging biomarkers. Patients are given such pharmaceuticals when undergoing Positron Emission Tomography (PET) which is a molecular imaging system that provides clinicians detailed information about diseases such as cancer, neurological disorders and cardiovascular disease.

The new product has been developed by Applied Nanotech, PEN's subsidiary. It is a thin carbon foil made of layers of graphene for use in cyclotron accelerators that produce nuclear pharmaceuticals. Tests performed on an accelerator at Michigan State University show that the lifetime of these foils are two to four times longer than those of currently available amorphous carbon foils.

Graphene helps Cambridge scientists get a step closer to the "ultimate" battery

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have created a graphene-based lithium-oxygen battery that is extremely energy dense, can be recharged more than 2000 times, and is 90% more efficient than current models. Lithium-oxygen batteries as regarded as the "ultimate" batteries because their theoretical energy density is ten times higher than a lithium-ion battery.

The researchers offered potential solutions to some of the problems facing such batteries before they can be realized, by producing a lab-based demonstrator of a lithium-oxygen battery that is a huge improvement over previous models. The new device relies on a highly porous carbon electrode made from graphene and other chemical additives. Although not all the problems have been solved, the results are a great advancement and show routes forward towards a practical device.

Updates on Vittoria's graphene-enhanced products

International tire manufacturer Vittoria added graphene to the rims of the Qurano series last year, and now Vittoria has further embraced graphene technology by incorporating it into its latest range of 2016 tires, referred to as the “Intelligent Tire System” (ITS).

Like before, Vittoria has worked with Directa Plus, an Italian manufacturer of graphene, to develop its line of new tires, which the company defines as “an innovative leader in the cycling world”. Vittoria’s compound expertise and knowledge of tire construction contributes strongly to the quality and performance of the tires, but the company states that graphene is responsible for slowing down wear significantly and gives the products an edge that allows it to reach a whole new level. The combination of graphene and rubber can be made very stiff and rigid when it’s not forced to work (roll fast when going straight at a steady pace), whereas the flexibility allows the rubber to enhance the grip while the biker corners/accelerates/breaks. Vittoria states that graphene affords their tires with more grip in the wet, more puncture resistance, better durability and lower rolling resistance, as much as 19% in the Corsa, and up to 40% in the Corsa Speed, a tire designed to allow maximum speed.

Graphene-Info interviews NanoXplore's CEO, Dr. Soroush Nazarpour

Group NanoXplore is a Montreal-based company specializing in the production and application of graphene and its derivative materials. The company's CEO and President, Dr. Soroush Nazarpour, was kind enough to answer a few questions we had regarding NanoXplore's technology and business. Read the full interview here.

Graphene to enable dense, energy-efficient memory chips

Researchers at Stanford University have recently performed three separate experiments that suggest graphene in computing and telecommunications could radically cut energy consumption. This work was done in search of post-silicon materials and technologies that enable storing more data per square inch and use a fraction of the energy of currently used memory chips.

All three experiments involve graphene, and test different ways to use it in new storage technologies. The scientists claim that graphene can have interesting mobile applications of these new technologies, but post-silicon memory chips may transform server farms that store and deliver quick access to enormous quantities of data stored in the cloud. The researchers maintain that these experiments show that graphene is far from a laboratory curiosity and that the material's unique properties can be utilized to create more energy-efficient data storage and possibly someday present a viable alternative to silicon.

Angstron Materials has announced the establishment of a sister company called EnerG Nano, and is ramping up for a more than $1 million expansion that would more than double its space.

Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council have announced an investment of £2.5 million for graphene feasibility studies targeting the applications of graphene with the greatest commercial potential.

Thomas Swan has announced the availability of two new graphene grades: Elicarb Electrical Grade Graphene Powder for conductive inks and Elicarb Materials Grade Graphene Powder for composites & plastics.

The Centre of Process Innovation (CPI) works to develop a graphene-based self-cleaning membrane filter with the potential to revolutionize liquid filtration across the globe, as part of a UK based collaboration that also includes G2O Water International (G2O), Haydale and Sellafield Ltd.

Graphene 3D Lab has launched ShareStation3D, a new web portal and free online marketplace that will allow users to download, share and print functional projects at no cost. The website already features several projects that can be made with Graphene 3D’s special conductive filaments.

The CRRC, the Chinese state owned rolling stock manufacturer and the world's largest train builder, has developed graphene-based supercapacitors that can power electric buses with higher efficiency and for a longer period.

IBM scientists announced a remarkable engineering achievement - they have managed to exchange the silicon transistor contacts in transistors for smaller, more efficient, carbon nanotubes. This could have revolutionary potential as silicon is getting harder to shrink in size, while CNTs can allow a reduction in the size of transistors.

Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) developed a process for coating perovskite layers with graphene for the first time, so that the graphene acts as a front contact in silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells.

Nanomedical Diagnostics, which declared the commercialization of a graphene biosensor in September 2015, announced the completion of a Series A financing round of $1.6 million.

The Canadian Grafoid, along with NAATBatt International from the United States and Phantoms Foundation of Spain, have announced the launch of GO Foundation (Graphene Organization Foundation), a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting graphene innovation and commercialization.

Researchers at Japan's RIKEN have discovered that wrinkles in graphene can restrict the motion of electrons to one dimension, forming a junction-like structure that changes from zero-gap conductor to semiconductor back to zero-gap conductor.

Researchers at Binghamton University have demonstrated an eco-friendly process that enables unprecedented spatial control over the electrical properties of graphene oxide, which is said to have the potential to revolutionize flexible electronics, solar cells and biomedical instruments.

A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research presents a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries, by incorporating unique 3D cobalt oxide microstructures into a reduced graphene oxide composite.

An international team of scientists from Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), the University of Maryland and more, have developed a graphene-based optical detector which reacts very rapidly to incident light of all different wavelengths and works at room temperature.