GNPs - Page 10

Talga Resources has announced that commissioning of all stages of the Phase 2 German pilot test facility has been successfully completed.

In April 2016, Talga announced the commissioning of its Phase 2 processing plant in Germany and has now provided further updates. The pilot test plant is currently configured so that approximately 76% of the input graphitic carbon reports to graphene products (FLG and GNP) and the remaining carbon reports to Talga’s building sector (micrographite) products.

Lomiko Metals has announced that it will be presenting a summary of the Graphene Energy Storage Devices Corp. (GESD) Graphene Supercapacitor Project at the Battery Material Conference in Toronto September 2016.

GESD is currently working on scale-up of the technology and an in-field evaluation of the energy storage unit with Stony Brook University. The GESD-SBU team demonstrated design and implementation of a sealed high-voltage EDLCs energy storage unit. The unit is internally balanced, there is no need for an external circuit. The electrode is very cost-effective nano-carbon composite either of a commercial carbon or of graphene platelets with carbon nanotubes. The nano-carbon electrode materials were used for deposition and assembly of a working prototype of an internally balanced high-voltage energy storage unit. The bench-top prototype unit, tested up to 10 V, exhibited good discharge characteristics and charge retention. This development enables new compact energy storage solutions for grid and vehicular applications.

Researchers from the Israeli Technion University developed a novel and rapid method to optically visualize CNTs and graphene. The idea is that growing pNBA nanocrystals - which are optically visible on top of the CNTs or graphene sheets. This allows the crystals to be viewed by dark-field optical microscopy.

The pNBAs NCs can be easily removed - and the original material is not effected by this process. But it allows much easier study of graphene, and can also be used to aid production processes as it is a scalable, fast and cost-effective process. The video below shows how growing those NCs on carbon nanotubes makes the tubes visible.

Researchers at UNIST in Korea may have overcome the problem of carbon-based electrocatalysts for dye-sensitized solar cells with their new catalyst made from edge-selenated graphene nanoplatelets.

DSSCs consist of a dye-coated titanium oxide photoanode, an electrolyte and a counter electrode (CE). Currently, the most widely used electrolytes in DSSCs are iodide/triode ones, and the most common CE is an optically transparent thin film of platinum (Pt) nanoparticles on fluorine-doped tin oxide (Pt-FTO). While Pt-based materials are among the most efficient CEs, Pt is an expensive precious metal that is in short supply. That is why researchers are constantly looking for alternative CE materials and the best candidates so far appear to be carbon-based. Such materials include carbon nanotubes, porous carbon, carbon spheres, active carbon and graphene. A major problem, however, with carbon-based CEs is that they are active enough in Co(II)/Co(III) electrolytes (and have a high PCE, here), but not sufficiently so in I-/I3- electrolytes.

Graphene ESD has announced the successful completion of its development project, undertaken jointly with the Research Foundation of Stony Brook University (SBU), that explored a novel method for assembly of high-voltage supercapacitor units.

The team assembled and tested a 10 V supercapacitor energy storage unit, thus proving feasibility of the high-voltage design. This development opens the door for new low-cost energy storage products. Currently, GESD is working on scale-up of the technology and an in-field evaluation of the energy storage unit.

China-based Knano Graphene Technology launched an ambitious project to construct a large-scale graphene production plant. We talked to the company's marketing chief to learn more about this interesting project.

Knano aims to finish construction by the end of 2016, and to start shipping products to customers in 2017. The new plant will mostly produce graphene-enhanced pastes, used for coatings and as Li-Ion battery anode materials. Knano says it already has customers that approved these products produced at the company's current production lines.

Versarien has announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Bromley Technologies to collaborate on the development of graphene-enhanced carbon fibre products using Versarien’s graphene nano platelets. The initial focus is expected to be on products in the elite sports area, where the early adoption of new technology to gain a performance advantage is common.

Bromley Technologies is focussed on developing and marketing innovative products and technologies, namely in the action sports domain. Bromley Technologies has particular expertise in carbon fibre composite structures and it is intended that Versarien will collaborate in the design and testing of a wide variety of graphene-enhanced composite structures, using Versarien’s patented process.

NanoIntegris, a subsidiary of Raymor Industries, recently announced the launch of PureWave Graphene, a substrate-free graphene grown in a plasma reactor, whose specifications are said to approach those of CVD single-layer graphene.

The unique plasma process used to grow PureWave Graphene nanoplatelets is reportedly easy to scale and produces a low cost product. The material contains low oxygen content (1%) and ppm metal impurity levels. The unique growth process based on plasma allows to produce this material at over 100 g/hour. This product is immediately available for research in gram or kg quantities, but lower prices for industrial applications will be unveiled by the end of the year.

Versarien has announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group) to collaborate on the production of power storage devices such as batteries and supercapacitors using Versarien’s graphene nano platelets. Working with the SME team and battery specialists, Versarien will have access to WMG’s expertise and world leading facilities in the Energy Innovation Centre.

WMG aims to improve the competitiveness of organizations through the application of value adding innovation, new technologies and skills deployment, bringing academic rigor to industrial and organizational practice. WMG bridges the gap between academia and industry, enabling the development of innovative products.

Researchers at Kansas State University have created a paper-like battery with an electrode made from silicon oxycarbide-glass and graphene, that could develop better tools for space exploration or unmanned aerial vehicles. The electrode is said to be over 10% lighter than other battery electrodes and features close to 100% cycling efficiency for more than 1,000 charge discharge cycles. It’s also made from inexpensive materials that are byproducts of the silicone industry, and it functions at temperatures as low as -15 C which can accommodate several aerial and space applications.

The research team addressed the challenges that arise when trying to incorporate graphene and silicon into practical batteries, like low capacity per volume, poor cycling efficiency and chemical-mechanical instability, by manufacturing a self-supporting and ready-to-go electrode that consists of a glassy ceramic called silicon oxycarbide sandwiched between large platelets of chemically modified graphene, or CMG. The electrode has a high capacity of approximately 600 miliampere-hours per gram — 400 miliampere-hours per cubic centimeter — that is derived from silicon oxycarbide. The paperlike design is made of 20% chemically modified graphene platelets.