The Graphene-Info newsletter (September 14, 2021)

A group of companies, led by Taurus International Ltd, has announced a planned acquisition (officially a merger) of UK-based graphene-developer Perpetuus Carbon Technologies.

No financial details were announced, but the UK's Secretary of State issued a public interest intervention notice to intervene in the proposed transaction - citing national security concerns. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will prepare a report on the proposed transaction, by 7 February 2022.

G6 Materials has announced the results of an antimicrobial efficacy test on a prototype of its proprietary graphene-based air purifier, conducted by a US-based microbiological laboratory of The Intertek Group. The test reportedly showed that the concentration of pathogenic microorganisms present in the testing chamber was reduced by 99.9% over the duration of the experiment.

Two different pathogens were randomly chosen to be tested under each experiment, which were the E. coli bacteria and the Phi-X174 bacteriophage. The duration of the test was set to two hours.

This is a guest-post by Grolltex - producing graphene biosensors on silicon chips today shows low yields, high cost and restrictive packaging options, limiting scalability and market penetration. But optimization may be here.

Monolayer, electronics grade graphene is propelling advanced biosensing in many key areas. Google the search term, ‘graphene biosensor’, and one will see thousands of next-generation, life enhancing applications being refined in research labs worldwide. This one atom thick material is creating biosensing and detection performance in speed and sensitivity not possible before. Areas such as cancer and virus detection, new drug discovery, genomics, allergens, glucose and many more are starting to see unimagined advances. By far, the number 1 use case for monolayer graphene films today is atomic level biosensing.

Directa Plus has announced that its new G+ graphene coatings are being used in two collections at the Milan Design Week. During the event, designers, architects, creatives, producers and brands in furniture and upholstery and interior design show their new products and creations.

The graphene product is being displayed by two Italian companies: Plinio il Giovane, a central Milan based producer of high-end furniture and upholstery, and Danese Milano, a subsidiary of lighting company Artemide. The G+ coating has been used for Plinio il Giovane’s chairs and sofas and Danese Milano’s desk pad.

The Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) at The University of Manchester was the venue for the latest act of pioneering work in using advanced materials in construction to promote sustainability in the sector.

Nationwide Engineering, Tier 2 partners of the GEIC, re-laid parking bays on the service road adjacent to the Centre earlier this month, using its graphene-enhanced Concretene product as a ‘living lab’ to test performance in exterior conditions.

National Highways will trial the use of graphene along three miles of the A1’s northbound carriageway between Newton on the Moor and West Cawledge, Northumberland, UK. If successful, using graphene could make roadworks less frequent and make roads smoother and more reliable.

National Highways is carrying out the trials with the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) at The University of Manchester and The University of Manchester (PTS).

As part of a £8.6 million research project, announced in support of the government’s UK Innovation Strategy, University of Cambridge engineers will explore how Digital Twins, smart materials, data science and robotic monitoring can work together to develop a connected physical and digital road infrastructure system.

This project is one of eight Prosperity Partnerships being supported with an investment of almost £60 million by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), businesses and universities.

A new Swinburne-led startup, SensFit Technologies, has developed a smart shoe with inbuilt sensors, aiming to improve the quality of life of older people through the early detection of dementia, diabetic ulcers and other physical activity issues.

nique sensor technology takes readings from the soles of the shoes to detect the onset of health issues. Image from Swinburne website

The unique technology is based on 87 smart sensors bonded with an innovative graphene ink that is embedded in the soles of a shoe. It was developed by startup co-founders Professor Franz Konstantin Fuss, a medical technologies researcher, and Dr. Nishar Hameed, whose research focuses on developing innovative technologies from advanced composite materials.

A team of researchers, led by Klaus Ensslin and Thomas Ihn at the Laboratory for Solid State Physics at ETH Zurich, together with colleagues at the University of Texas in Austin (USA), has observed a novel state in twisted bi-layer graphene. In that state, negatively charged electrons and positively charged (so-called) holes, which are missing electrons in the material, are correlated so strongly with each other that the material no longer conducts electric current.

Image by Peter Rickhaus / ETH Zurich (taken from Nanowerk)

“In conventional experiments, in which graphene layers are twisted by about one degree with respect to each other, the mobility of the electrons is influenced by quantum mechanical tunneling between the layers”, explains Peter Rickhaus, a post-doc and lead author of the study. “In our new experiment, by contrast, we twist two double layers of graphene by more than two degrees relative to each other, so that electrons can essentially no longer tunnel between the double layers.”

Karlsruhe Institute Of Technology (KIT) and Technical University of Darmstadt researchers have developed graphene-enhanced sensors for molecules in the gas phase. The functional principle of this new type of sensors is based on sensitive graphene transistors and tailor-made organometallic coatings. This combination enables selective detection of molecules.

Fabrication of SURMOF/GFET process flow. Image from article

As a prototype, the authors of the new study demonstrated a specific ethanol sensor that, unlike currently available commercial sensors, does not react to other alcohols or moisture.

Iceni Labs, a spin-out from Imperial College London, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore’s 2D Materials (2DM) that will see the companies combine their respective expertise to develop and market graphene-based products for the defense, automotive and aerospace markets in Europe, North America and the Middle East.

Iceni Labs , a spin-out from Imperial College London, aims to exploit the properties of graphene for devices aimed at the defense market. 2DM manufactures graphene as an additive to enhance the properties of many industrial materials. The MoU will explore the potential to use 2DM’s graphene as an industrial additive to enhance the properties of Iceni Labs-developed industrial products including microphones, weapons optics devices and coatings.

Graphene Manufacturing Group (GMG) has formalized its support to Queensland University of Technology – Centre for Biomedical Technologies (“CBT”) for the development of Piezo-Supercapacitors for Self-Powered Medical Implants through a pilot project agreement. The Agreement details GMG’s contribution of expertise and graphene for the project.

The initial Industry Engagement Grant entitled “Piezoelectric Supercapacitors for Self-Powered Medical Implants” was awarded to Professor Cameron Brown, Associate Professor Deepak Dubal, Dr. Hong Duc Pham and the Chief Scientific Officer of GMG, Dr. Ashok Kumar Nanjundan.