The British company 2-DTech, maker and supplier of 2D materials that was spun-off by the University of manchester, started selling graphene in water dispersible form.
The company developed a technique which makes it possible to manufacture graphene products in a solution using water and isopropanol (IPA). This should have various commercial and logistical benefits, and hopefully assist in bringing forth developemnts and innovations in graphene applications.
Carbon nanomaterials like graphene nanoplatelets (GNP's) often come in a liquid form, suspended in solvents like DMF or N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone which have major drawbacks (health concerns, handling and shipping restrictions and more). IPA is without those drawbacks, and when in use in a solution with water it can provide the graphene with stability and support greater amounts of graphene in the solution.
This solution also excels in having no surfactants added, which can damage the properties og the GNP's. 2-DTech hopes this new stable and efficient media for graphene will set the company apart from other suppliers and provide many possibilities for their customers.
2-DTech was recently acquired by Versarien.