Graphene-Info: the graphene experts

Malaysia-headquartered Graphjet Technology, developer of technologies to produce graphite and graphene from agricultural waste, has announces it is starting the 'world’s largest commercial-scale green graphite facility outside China'.

The more than 8,300-sq.-metre plant in Kuala Lumpur has the capacity to recycle up to 9,000 tonnes of palm kernel shells annually for as much as 3,000 tonnes of battery-grade graphite per year, Graphjet said in a recent statement. The output can make enough batteries for 40,000 electric vehicles a year.  

British climate technology firm Levidian has launched its second-generation LOOP technology, which will aim to achieve industrial levels of production of high-quality graphene. Levidian’s LOOP system provides heavy emitters and hard-to-abate industries such as landfill and aluminium producers with a  route to both decarbonize their processes and open up new revenue streams from the graphene and hydrogen that are produced.

At the heart of LOOP is a patented ‘nozzle’ where microwave energy is applied to crack methane into its component parts, creating clean hydrogen and capturing carbon in the form of high purity graphene. A single nozzle will be capable of producing around 15 tonnes of graphene a year – enough, 
for example, to transform the performance of thousands of electric vehicles with graphene-enhanced batteries and tires so that cars can go further for 
longer with less impact on the environment.

Researchers at NETL, a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory, have developed a low-cost process for converting coal tar waste into high-quality graphene. The team stressed that the resulting can increase the performance of energy-storing supercapacitor systems by up to 55%.

Schematic illustration of the synthesis process of 3D graphene. Image from: Small Methods

According to NETL’s Christopher Matranga, one of the authors of the study, graphene has long been considered an ideal supercapacitor electrode material, but its use in commercial devices is limited because there are few methods for producing high-quality graphene at a large scale at a low cost.

Sparc Technologies has secured AUD$1.12 million (around USD$730,000) in an R&D tax refund, under the Australian Government's R&D Tax Incentive, relating to the 2024 financial year. 

It was stated that this financial boost comes as a recognition of Sparc’s commitment to advancing sustainable technologies in high-performance coatings and polymers. This refund will strengthen the company’s cash position thereby providing continued support for Sparc's investment in Sparc Hydrogen, ecosparc® field trials and its work developing graphene based additives for high performance coatings and polymers

A team of Spain-based researchers has developed a highly sensitive detector for identifying molecules via their infrared vibrational “fingerprint”. The new detector converts incident infrared light into ultra-confined "nanolight" in the form of phonon polaritons within the detector´s active area. This mechanism serves two crucial purposes: it improves the detector's overall sensitivity and enhances the vibrational fingerprint of nanometer-thin molecular layer placed on top of the detector, allowing this molecular fingerprint to be more easily detected and analyzed. 

The compact design and room-temperature operation of the device hold promise for developing ultra-compact platforms for molecular and gas sensing applications.

Researchers from China's Nanjing University of Science and Technology and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have developed lightweight and structurally controllable 3D reduced graphene oxide frameworks decorated with magnetic components (MRGO frameworks) via 3D printing technology to tailor EMI shielding properties. 

The team explains that by adjusting the preparation conditions of the MRGO frameworks, such as inter-filament spacing, composition, and pyrolysis temperature, the graphitization degree and transmission paths are influenced, enabling electrical conductivity and magnetic property, and ensuring excellent EMI shielding performance.

Volt Carbon Technologies, in collaboration with Downsview Aerospace Innovation & Research (DAIR), has announced that both Volt Carbon's southern Ontario-based mineral processing operation (Toronto) and its subsidiary, Solid UltraBattery (Guelph), have been selected as recipients of the DAIR Green Fund.

The funded projects include: 1) "Development of High-Performance Carbon Materials for Aerospace Industries" and 2) "Advancements in Low-Temperature Performance of Lithium-Ion Batteries." These initiatives aim to advance battery solutions for unmanned aerial systems and enhance the capabilities of graphite and graphene in aerospace materials.