December 2013

The world's largest graphene production plant is now operational in China

In July we reported that China's Ningbo Morsh Technology is establishing a new graphene production line that will have an annual capacity of 300 tons (or tens of millions of graphene films). The line was supposed to be operational by August 2013, and now there are reports from china that finally production began.

The report further says that China plans to build a state-level graphene industrialization base in China's Chongqing Municipality. Within 5 years, they hope to reach revenues of 100 billion yuan ($16.35 billion). If the capacity is indeed 300 tons per year, than China is now the world's leading graphene producer by far.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 27,2013

Graphene-Info: 1,500 fans in Facebook, and going strong

Today we reached 1,500 fans on Facebook for the Graphene-Info page! In fact we already have 1,501. That's really cool, and if you're not a fan already, you can hop over to our Facebook page and become one now. You'll get Graphene updates to your feed and can join the discussions. And show your support for Graphene-Info too...

Facebook is not the only option to stay updated and in touch with Graphene-Info though. You can follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

 
Read the full story Posted: Dec 27,2013

Graphene Nanochem to double its graphene production capacity

Graphene Nanochem installed a second reactor at its Nanomaterials facility, in Senawang, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The company says this new reactor will double the company's graphene capacity to two tons per year.

Graphene Nanochem plans to continue and expand its production capacity in 2014 and 2015 as the company hopes to start offering graphene-based drilling fluids soon. Yesterday the company said it will build a graphene hub in Malaysia in cooperation with the National Innovation Agency of Malaysia.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 20,2013

Folding graphene in a fin-like structure opens a bandgap and produces a spin-polarized current

Researchers from the US, Singapore, Brazil and Ireland have theoretically shown that if you fold a graphene sheet in a fin-like structure and expose it to a magnetic field you open up a bandgap. This will also produce spin-polarized current, which should make it useful in Spintronics applications.

The researchers say that this folding can be easily achieved by depositing graphene on a substrate with periodic trenches.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 20,2013

Malaysia to open a national graphene innovation hub in collaboration with Graphene Nanochem

Graphene Nanochem, in cooperation with the National Innovation Agency of Malaysia are going to develop Malaysia's national graphene hub. The hub, which will be launched in Q2 2014, will focus on the development of graphene and the commercial applications for graphene.

Graphene Nanochem says that the Malaysian government has identified graphene as a key material for driving technologies and commercial applications. They hope to turn Malaysia into a global graphene innovation hub.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 19,2013

Nano Carbon starts graphene production in Poland

Nano Carbon, a poland-based startup established in 2011, announced it has began to produce graphene materials. The company will offer these materials via its online store.

The company uses technology developed at the Institute of Electronic Materials Technology in Warsaw and is co-owned by mining giant KGHM and the Industrial Development Agency (ARP). The method, an adaptation of epitaxy, relies on the crystallization of carbon from an outer source, which means the carbon is settled down in the form of a one or two atom thick layer on the surface. The EMT says that the process is efficient and cheap and uses commercially available equipment.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 19,2013

Researchers say graphene will outperform ITO as solar panel transparent electrode material

Researchers from Singapore's A*STAR institute discovered that graphene outperforms ITO as solar panels transparent electrodes. The researchers say that stacking four graphene sheets is the best method - as more graphene sheets decrease the resistance but blocks more light.

A single graphene sheets blocks less than 3% of light which means more light can reach the solar panel. Graphene's efficiency as a solar panel electrode depends on the type of light absorbed by the panel. For solar panels that absorb near-infrared light graphene is only slightly less effective than ITO, while graphene would be ideally suited to photovoltaic cells with a very broad absorption range, such as a recently developed organic solar cell that can harvest light from 350 to 850 nanometers.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 19,2013

Boron and nitrogen doping opens up a bandgop in graphene nanoplatelets

Researchers from Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNITS) developed new graphene-based FETs (G-FETs), based on boron/nitrogen co-doped graphene nanoplatelets.

The researchers major breakthrough is the development of a new efficient method to produce those BCN-graphene platelets via a simple solvothermal reaction using potassium. Doping the GNPs opens up a bandgap.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 19,2013

MIT develops a new graphene oxygen-treatment method, opens up new applications

Researchers from MIT and the University of California at Berkeley developed a new way to evenly functionalize graphene with oxygen at low (50-80 C) temperatures. The method is environmentally friendly (no harsh chemical treatment) and can be applied on a large scale.

The researchers use low-temperature annealing and this cause the oxygen atoms to form clusters. This leaves areas of pure-graphene between the oxygen clusters. This decreases the graphene's electrical resistance by four to five orders of magnitude (the oxygen clusters are insulating) which is good for applications such as sensing, electronics and catalysis.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 17,2013