January 2014

Researchers from Kansas State University developed a new composite paper made of interleaved molybdenum disulfide and graphene nanosheets that can be used as a negative electrode in sodium-ion batteries. The researchers say that the paper can be both an active material to efficiently store sodium atoms and a flexible current collector.

The researchers say that regular negative electrodes for sodium-ion batteries use materials that undergo an 'alloying' reaction with sodium. This means that the materials can swell as much as 400 to 500 percent as the battery is charged and discharged - which is problemtic as it can cause mechanical damage and loss of electrical contact with the current collector.

Researchers from the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) developed a new type of tunnel device structure in which both the tunnel barrier and transport channel are made from graphene. The researchers say that this device features the highest spin injection values yet measured for graphene, and this design could pave they way towards highly functional and scalable graphene electronic and spintronic devices.

The tunnel barrier is made from dilutely fluorinated graphene while the charge and transport layer is made from graphene. The researcher demonstrated tunnel injection through the fluorinated graphene, and lateral transport and electrical detection of pure spin current in the graphene channel.

IBM researchers built a graphene (GFET) based radio frequency receiver IC which they say is the world's most advanced IC ever made of graphene - in fact it offers 10,000 times better performance and any previously reported effort.

IBM's circuit consists of three graphene transistors, four inductors, two capacitors, and two resistors. All circuit components are fully integrated into a 0.6 mm² area and fabricated in a 200 mm silicon production line. The researchers say that those the circuits consume less than 20 mW power to operate, while also demonstrating the highest conversion gain of any graphene RF circuits at multiple GHz frequency.

Researchers from Purdue university suggest a new way to control the flow of heat in electronic devices. The idea is to use triangular structures to control phonons (a quantum-mechanical phenomena that describe how vibrations travel through a material's crystal structure). Small triangular graphene flakes is one possible such structure.

The researchers used simulations to show that those triangular (and also other T-shaped structures) are capable of "thermal rectification," or permitting a greater flow of heat in one direction than in the opposite direction. Rectification has made possible transistors, diodes and memory circuits central to the semiconductor industry. The new devices are thermal rectifiers that might perform the same function, but with phonons instead of electrical current.

XG Sciences announced that Samsung Ventures placed a strategic investment in the company. XGS did not disclose the terms of the investment, but they said that it will be used to "fund additional research and development of the company’s advanced materials".

XG Sciences also plans to formalize their development work with Samsung SDI (the world's largest Li-Ion battery maker) in a joint development program aimed at next-generation batteries for consumer electronics and other devices.

The University of Central Florida’s NanoScience Technology Center is developing graphene-based spray coating. The spray will be based on a polymer-graphene composite that will both be used to strengthen materials (used for the construction of aircrafts and cars) and to protect materials from corrosion.

The Center launched a program that will develop graphene oxide, the plastic host and a plasma spray. Garmor (which was spun off the UCF and licensed technology developed at the NanoScience Center) will assist with the formulation of the graphene oxide. The GO will need to be modified so it can be adhered to a plastic host and sprayed onto a surface while retaining its innate strength and elasticity.

Researchers from Brown University have shown that it is possible to create a graphene-like 2D material from Boron. This new materiel (termed Borophene) may prove to be an even better conductor than graphene.

Boron has one fewer electron than carbon so it cannot form a honeycomb lattice. But now it turns out that you can make a cluster of 36 Boron atoms (shown on the left in the image above) called B36 that looks like a disc with a hexagonal hole in the middle. This B36 can be used to form an extended planar 2D graphene-like material.

Researchers from Korea's Sungkyunkwan University vertically integrated ZnO nanowires on graphene foams (3D graphene) and used this as electrodes for Parkinson's disease detection - to selectively detect uric acid (UA), dopamine (DA), and ascorbic acid (AA) by a differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) method.

The researchers explain that their electrode is optimized as it has a large surface area with mesoporous 3D graphene structures that facilitate ion diffusion easily. It also features high conductivity from the 3D graphene foam and high selectivity due to the active sites of the ZnO surface.

UK-based IP Group announced that it extended its commercialization agreement with the University of Manchester (via its technology transfer company, UMI3), to include Proof-of-Principle (PoP) funding for graphene projects. The IP Group will also commit a further 2.5 million GBP ($4.1 million) per the revised terms of the agreement.

IP Group is a developer of IP-based business. One of its portfolio companies is Applied Graphene Materials that recently raised £10 million by going public in the UK's AIM stock exchange.

Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute developed a simple method to determine the strength and stiffness of graphene materials. The researchers published data that enables researchers to correlate the precise strength and stiffness of non-pristine graphene samples to their Raman signatures.

The researchers say that these new results provide a rapid and non-destructive method to determine the strength and stiff of graphene samples - with a high degree of accuracy. The researchers a range of graphene samples - with different densities and defects. They then characterized those samples using Raman spectroscopy. Finally, they used a nanoindentation technique to press sharp diamond tips into the graphene samples, and recorded how the samples stretched and, in some cases, tore.