Graphene-Info newsletter

Graphene to enable better night-vision sensors

Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, University of California Riveriside and US Army Research Laboratory have integrated graphene with silicon microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) to make a flexible, transparent, and low-cost device for the mid-infrared range.

Tests showed it could be used to detect a person’s heat signature at room temperature (300 K or 27 degrees C/80 degrees F) without cryogenic cooling, which is normally required to filter out background radiation, or “noise,” to create a reliable image (which complicates the design and adds to the cost and the unit’s bulkiness and rigidity).

Hydrogen-treated graphene nanofoam electrodes can enhance Li-ion batteries

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have found a way to make lithium ion batteries last longer and charge faster, by using graphene nanofoam electrodes and treating them with hydrogen.

Using these new electrodes, charging rates went up to 40% faster, with less energy waste during charging and higher power output. The study also reveals that controlled hydrogen treatment could help optimize the transport of lithium and reversible storage in other materials that are based on graphene.

The graphene-info team visits the birthplace of raphene

In early November, the graphene-info team visited the UK - the birthplace of graphene, for a two-day graphene conference. We finished the tour with a trip up north to Manchester, to see the NGI, Manchester University's Graphene institute.

While we try to be on top of everything that is related to graphene, our first impression from the visits and the conference is that the graphene industry is much more active than it seemed. There are many very exciting projects, some on the verge of commercialization, and it looks like graphene is going to make a larger impact than we expected in the near future. We came back very encouraged! Most companies, it seems, are still focused on early-stage graphene applications - mainly composites, heat management solutions and also graphene-enhanced batteries. The academia is of course looking further down the road - and looks at graphene photonic, electronic and spintronic applications, other emerging graphene-like materials and more. It seems clear that now is the time to start commercializing graphene. Even though the materials on offer are not perfect, and capacity remains low, there are still many areas in which graphene can make a huge impact.

NGI and Alpha collaborate to develop next-gen graphene-based electronic materials

The National Graphene Institute (NGI) at The University of Manchester has entered into a collaborative partnership with Alpha, an electronic soldering and bonding materials supplier, to develop the next generation of graphene-based electronic materials.

The collaboration will be a multi-year effort which will focus on how to utilize innovative soldering materials in applications which have higher connectivity, mobile and sustainability requirements, which will have an impact on electronics assembly and packaging as well as energy and power industries.

Graphene 3D Lab Introduces a new product: Graphene Flex Foam

Graphene 3D Lab has announced Graphene Flex Foam, a new commercial product that will be available through Graphene Laboratories’ e-commerce site, Graphene Supermarket. The new product is described as a Multilayer Freestanding Flexible Graphene Foam, that brings together a conductive elastomer composite with ultra-light graphene foam.

The foam, a highly conductive 3D chemical vapor deposition (CVD), together with the composite, brings together the best of several worlds of graphene usage. As a flexible foam, the material is both lightweight and reconfigurable, adding to ease of use and handling, with a porous structure. The Graphene Flex Foam could be used in conjunction with other graphene-related materials–such as Graphene 3D Lab’s filament offerings–in the creation of electronics and other conductive products.

Graphenano announces the launch of a manufacturing plant for graphene-based batteries

Graphenano, the Spain-based manufacturer of graphene, announced the installation of a manufacturing plant for batteries with Graphene Polymer in Yecla, (Murcia) Spain. The plant will reportedly host twenty assembly and manufacturing lines of high added value batteries which should produce, at full capacity, more than a million cells. The production of the first cells in this plant is foreseen for the months of January and February, and will be at full capacity in the second half of the next year.

The plant, which is over 7.000 m² in size, will enjoy the latest technology for the manufacturing of this new kind of batteries, equipment designed specifically for this development. The company's polymer for battery cathodes is said to improve the safety when using it, since they do not produce gases, do not explode and get less hot, in addition to being the only batteries in the world that keep working after being short-circuited. Certification tests carried out in close collaboration with the independent Dekra institutes in Spain (AT4 wireless) and TuV in Germany have exceeded 1000 Wh/kg, which is five times more than the current battery technologies.

Haydale enters into a development agreement with Huntsman

Haydale has signed a letter of intent with Huntsman Advanced Materials, a leading global chemical solutions provider, to use the company’s graphene enabling technology together with Huntsman’s ARALDITE resins and heavy duty adhesives to create enhanced composites.

The first step will be the development of a graphene enabled ‘master batch’ which will be used for development and validation. The companies hope that this work might open up the potential for a whole new range of advanced composite materials and products with enhanced performance and lower cost.

Haydale to develop electrically conductive graphene-enhanced composites for aerospace

Haydale's subsidiary Haydale Composite Solutions (HCS), has entered into a collaborative 18 month research project awarded and managed by the National Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme (NATEP) and involves two end users, Airbus UK and BAE Systems. The research project aims to produce a material less likely to be damaged by lightning strike on an aircraft.

Carbon fiber composites are used extensively in aircraft applications such as fuselages, leading edges and wing surfaces. However, since the carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composite materials are poor conductors of electricity, they are prone to damage caused by lightning strike. The aim of this new project is to develop highly electrically conductive epoxy resins through the addition of functionalized graphene which, when combined with conductive carbon fiber, is expected to result in a highly conductive carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composite material capable of withstanding lightning strike. This advanced material should bring about safer aircraft, savings in both weight and cost by eliminating the need for expensive metallic meshes, and reducing the production time associated with integrating the meshes into the structure.

Researchers at A*STAR have developed an 'asymmetric' supercapacitor based on vertically aligned graphene nanosheets coated with iron nitride and titanium nitride as the anode and cathode, that could be a viable energy storage solution.

Researchers at the University of Belgrade in Serbia have built the world’s first graphene-based condenser microphone, which is about 32 times more sensitive than traditional nickel microphones over a range of audible frequencies.

Talga Resources announced signing a collaboration agreement under which it, along with Tata Steel UK, will explore opportunities in graphene supply, processing and applications.

Researchers at MIT conducted simulations and reached a new theory, according to which a sheet of graphene could be used to make X-rays.

Startup funding network Angel Capital Group (ACG) is making a $8.7 million investment in Oak Ridge-based advanced materials startup General Graphene Corporation, an undertaking by a major entrepreneur in the Tennessee region.

Garmor has developed graphene oxide-based coatings useful for limiting UV radiation damage to sensors and polymers.

A new joint innovation by the University of Cambridge and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s National Measurement Institute, could lead to using graphene to redefine the ampere in terms of fundamental constants of physics.

Researchers from Glasgow University have come up with a method to mass produce graphene in a process that is reportedly much cheaper to employ than the current one.

Poland has announced the launch of a new Center of Graphene and Innovative Nanotechnology in Warsaw. The facility will operate under the Institute of Electric Materials Technology (ITME) and research photonic crystals and nanocomposites alongside international partners.

Researchers at Tsinghua University, China, have created an artificial synapse out of aluminum oxide and twisted bilayer graphene. By applying different electric voltages to the system, they found they could control the reaction intensity of the receiving “neuron.”

A team of Chinese researchers, led by the Central China Normal University in Wuhan, has come up with a graphene-based extraction method for aldehydes from breath, which could aid in diagnosing lung cancer.

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have developed a new nanopore sequencing method based on graphene nanoribbons that detects double and single stranded DNA in different configurations and shows great sensitivity and promise for developing a portable, high-throughput sequencer that can also detect DNA morphological transformations.