American Graphite Technologies (AGT) is going to research the possibility of using graphene-based materials as the working materials for 3D printing. AGT will collaborate on this with Ukraine's Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology ("KIPT"). AGT and KIPS are still "finalizing the details" on the agreement and will issue more information shortly.

Researchers from the University of Illinois discovered that when InGaAs nanowires are grown on graphene, they self-assemble into an unexpected structure, in which the indium arsenide (InAs) acts as a core with an InGaAs shell around it. This structure may be very useful for electronics applications.

The researchers wanted to try graphene as a substrate because silicon (which is most commonly used) is expensive, thick and brittle. Graphene is a lot thinner, and it's flexible, too. Now it turns out that grapheen also offers new, unexpected functionality. And the fact that this structure was built spontaneously is very good, too as it makes it easy to construct such nanowires.

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) announced a new Mascara (called Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils Baby Doll). They announced that this new Mascara delivers a long-lasting volume and intense color. YSL claims that the patent-protected formula was "inspired" by graphene. The formula costs of three polymers, soft waxes and an agent that allows for maximum distribution of black pigments, and the final material "mimics the structure and properties of graphene".

Okay, this is likely just a marketing line, and not really graphene related, but still it's great to see graphene is getting so popular that even companies such YSL use it to promote new products.

Researchers from University of Exeter have developed a new flexible, transparent and ultra-lightweight photodetector device made from graphene and graphExeter (a room-temperature transparent conductor discovered at the University of Exeter in 2012). The new device can also be used to generate electricity. It's only a few atoms thick and can be woven into textiles to create photovoltaic fabrics.

The researchers say that the efficiency of the new device is similar to opaque devices based on graphene and metals (Nokia, for example, is working on graphene-based photo detectors). The new device does not contain any metals. It can detect light across the entire visible light spectrum.

Researchers from IBM are studying how plasmons lose their energy in graphene. It turns out that plasmons lose their energy very slowly in graphene, which is good for photonics and quantum optics applications (the longer the plasmons last, the better).

The IBM researchers are using graphene nanoribbons, dots and nanodisk arrays grown on all sorts of substrates (silicon wafers, diamond-like carbon and SiO2, to name just a few). The researchers are using a new technique (based on Fourier transform IR spectrometer) to measure exact plasmon damping mechanisms and rates. Their most important finding is that the graphene plasmons appear to interact strongly with the vibrations of the silicon dioxide substrate surface atoms on which the graphene is deposited. This leads to so-called energy-dependent hybrid plasmon-phonon modes that disperse and decay very differently compared with those modes where graphene is deposited on non-planar diamond-like substrates.

Researchers from Canada's Queen's University discovered a way to create graphene based materials using a simple and cheap method. The only information released by the university details how this new bottom-up method replaces some carbon atoms with boron and nitrogen atoms, which enables the use of light exposure on the compounds to grow graphene-like honeycomb lattices.

The researchers have filed for a patent on this technology. Hopefully we'll learn more about this development soon.

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (in Delhi, India) have shown that layers of graphene deposited on silicon have excellent anti reflection properties. The researchers demonstrated (using theoretical calculations and experiments) that CVD-deposited graphene is much better as a UV anti-reflectance layer compared to the commonly used Si3N4 layer used in current solar-cells.

Earlier this month we reported on a new research (from Peking University) showing that Titanium Dioxide can be used as a anti-reflective layer in graphene-silicon solar cells to make them more efficient.

Graphene Devices has won the first place in the 2013 Rochester Regional Business Plan Contest. The company received a cash prize of $25,000, a year of free incubation services and office space and $2,500 of marketing services. 46 companies submitted applications.

Graphene Devices, founded in 2009, explores novel uses for Graphene and ways to optimize its production. The company is using a process developed at the University of Buffalo. The company is funded by Venture Capital fund Excell Partners and they have been awarded with over $600,000 in several projects in 2010 by the US federal and state authorities.

Graphene Laboratories recently signed a two-year strategic alliance agreement with Canada's Lomiko Metals, the owner of several resource properties containing high-grade graphite. Today Lomiko announced that it has prepared a variety of high to ultra pure carbon flake graphite samples that will be tested by Graphene Labs.

Those graphite samples were provided from the Quatre Milles Project. The main goal of the testing will be to develop a feasible procedure for the purification of flake graphite for use in graphene production.

Grafoid have signed a two-year R&D agreement with the University of Waterloo to investigate and develop a graphene-based composite for fuel cells and super-capacitors for the automotive and/or portable electronics sectors. The new material can be used to make electrodes, nanocatalyst support, electrolyte membranes and bipolar plates, transparent electrodes and other potential applications.

Grafoid also says that they expect to announce several additional development projects in 2013. Grafoid is a private company based in Canada that produces graphene on a commercial scale using their proprietary extraction process. Grafoid is partly (40%) owned by Focus Metals.