Graphene-Info newsletter

Clemson University team's graphene-enhanced aluminum-ion batteries outperform lithium-ion ones

Researchers at Clemson University in the U.S have shown that replacing lithium with aluminum and graphene may be key for next-gen batteries. Aluminum is regarded as non-toxic and much more plentiful than the lithium currently in widespread use (and also cheaper). Aluminum also transfers energy more efficiently. Inside a battery, the element — lithium or aluminum — gives up some of its electrons, which flow through external wires to power a device. Because of their atomic structure, lithium ions can only provide one electron at a time; aluminum can give three at a time. That, the team says, is the real point of the switch.

Still, aluminum ion batteries designed by other researchers have not performed as well as lithium ion batteries. The Clemson team describes how they were able to get aluminum ion to perform better than previously tested aluminum ion batteries. "The problem isn’t that aluminum ions are deficient,” said a student at the Clemson Nanomaterials Institute and the first author of the paper. “It’s that unlike lithium ions that have been around for a while, we do not know much about how aluminum ions behave inside the battery.” “These aluminum batteries can last more than 10,000 cycles without any performance loss,” the researchers said. “Our hope is to make aluminum batteries with higher energy to ultimately displace lithium-ion technology.”

Gaming company launches graphene-enhanced SSD

Team Group, memory solutions and accessory provider, has announced the addition of new products to their existing T-FORCE gaming line of products. Among the new products is the T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO M.2 PCI-E solid-state drive, featuring graphene copper foil cooling on the SSD module allowing the SSD to maximize cooling benefits from both natural passive cooling and directed air cooling via fans to deliver excellent heat dissipation.

According to the company, the T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO M.2 PCI-E SSD is the world’s first super slim SSD on the market built specifically for gaming laptops and high-performance tablet PCs. Utilizing graphene provided by Nitronix and designing combinations of different proportions of graphene and copper foil, the patented graphene copper foil heat spreader was reportedly achieved through stringent multiple verification. It offers excellent thermal cooling effect even in a closed space.

Nanotech Engineering's graphene-enhanced solar panel gains MIT's approval

A controversial announcement was released this month, when Nanotech Engineering announced that MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) has verified the technology of its new Nanopanel, a solar panel that is declared as 92% efficient (as opposed to around 20% for traditional large panels). Nanotech Engineering's Nanopanel is described as a solar panel with layers of Graphene as the base, a carbon nanotube forest on top with a mineral solution that can come in any color to match the home. “The panel is slightly thicker and wider than a FedEx envelope, yet stronger than steel, flexible, lightweight, flexible and about half the cost of traditional panels,” said Nanotech.

These claims started a whirlwind of debates and discussions amongst our readers (and also our team) and the veracity of the story is unverified. However, Graphene-Info is currently in touch with Nanotech Engineering in order to find out more information, and a follow-up article that will hopefully shed some light on the matter will be released soon. Stay tuned!

MIT and Johns Hopkins team manages to make graphene self-fold into 3D shapes

Researchers with Johns Hopkins University and MIT have shown a way to cause flat sheets of graphene to self-fold into 3D geometric shapes. The group explains how they prepared the sheets and then used heat to cause them to fold. The ability to create 3D objects from sheets of graphene can advance opportunities in fields like sensors, wearables and more.

In their work, the researchers developed a micro-patterning technique that leads to the flat graphene sheets bending along predesignated lines when heat is applied, causing the sheet to form into shapes. The new method not only preserves the intrinsic properties of the graphene, but it was also found that the creases can cause a band gap in the graphene, which can be extremely useful.

First graphene ISO standard published

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) recently published the world's first ISO (International Organization for Standardization) graphene standard. The standard will aim to provide consistency across the emerging world-wide graphene industry and accelerate graphene's commercial exploitation.

The new international standard defines the terminology used to describe the many different forms of graphene and related 2D materials, supporting companies in the testing and validation process. This will provide clarity among manufacturers, suppliers, NGOs and academia, helping to unlock new applications, drive down manufacturing costs and open up industrial-scale use of graphene in various applications.

Graphene-Info's Batteries, Supercapacitors, GO, Lighting, Displays and Graphene Investments Market Reports updated to October 2017

New versions of all our graphene market reports have been released! Graphene-Info provides comprehensive niche graphene market reports, and our reports cover everything you need to know about these markets. The reports are now updated to October 2017.

Our market reports come with one year of free upgrades. If you bought your report within the year, contact us or simply reply to this mail to get your new edition. Older customers are entitled to an upgrade discount.

As the year is coming to an end, Graphene-info is happy to offer a special discount for new advertisers and sponsors, a combined package of a banner campaign at the graphene-info web site and a platinum sponsorship for the whole of 2018 at a substantial discount over the regular price!

Scientists at Rutgers University-New Brunswick have found a way to control the electrons in graphene, paving the way for the ultra-fast transport of electrons with low loss of energy in novel systems.

In a recent work, an international team of researchers proposed a graphene-based semiconductor device that reduces electronic noise when its electric charge is neutral (referred to as its neutrality point).

Project Gravia reports results of graphene-based OLED encapsulation solution development.

UK's Haydale and Australia-based Imagine Intelligent Materials have signed a strategic agreement to establish a graphene-based conductive coatings capability in North America.

Researchers in the UK (the University of Manchester) and Italy (the University of Pisa) have developed a remarkable inkjet-printed graphene strain gauge sensor on paper.

Researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) are developing a water treatment system based on a mix of graphene oxide and a byproduct made from shrimp shells.

The Greece-based IntelenAn has announced that a working model of a graphene-enhanced lithium ion "smart" battery for households will be ready in February 2018.

Researchers from Italy’s University of Florence have found that graphene oxide could significantly improve the efficiency of perovskite solar cells.

The European Commission has released an interim review report of the Graphene Flagship project's first year following the two-and-half-year ramp-up phase.

Graphene-Info has added new graphene flakes and graphene oxide materials to its graphene catalog - the world's most complete graphene materials catalog!