Researchers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore demonstrated how Indium and Indium chloride (InCl) can improve the process of reducing graphene oxide to graphene. The Indium helps by regenerating the sp2-conjugated system or selectively removing key oxygen-containing groups that could potentially decrease the performance of the graphene.

The researchers developed a method to apply the Indium, and they say that this method can be applied independently or in conjunction with other reducing agents to further improve the quality of chemically reduced graphene.

Researchers have been speculating about making a 2D sheet of diamond that they call Diamane for a long time. Now researchers from Rice University in collaboration with Russian researchers (from the Technological Institute for Superhard and Novel Carbon Materials in Moscow) published a roadmap for the creation of this material.

The researchers calculated a phase diagram that lays the conditions (such as temperature and pressure) that are necessary to turn stacked graphene sheets into a diamond lattice. They say that diamane could be made completely chemically with no pressure at all.

The Graphene Handbook was launched only a couple of months ago, but it was already bought and read by many graphene professionals. This unique guide to graphene technology, industry and market appeals to many people, and last week I asked some of those who bought the book whether it was a good read. Here are what a couple of them said:

The Graphene Handbook gives an excellent overview of the landscape over the last ten years. It is easily readable as a beginner's guide, but contains sufficient detail to be enlightening to a broad audience from industrial suppliers to potential graphene users

Jon Mabbitti
CEO
Applied Graphene Materials

Back in October, researchers from India's VIT University started to study a new composite material made from graphene oxide and PVC. The GO was found to enhance the PVC to make it useful for battery electrodes, membranes and coatings.

The researchers continued to study the material, and they now published an article regarding the electrical characterization of the PVC-GO material as function of temperature. They say that according to their findings, the new material be very useful for all sorts of EMI applications, including radiation shields for radar and communication towers.

Angstron Materials (owned by Nanotek Instruments and based in Ohio, USA) is a graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and single-layer graphene sheets developer and producer.

Ian Fuller, the company's marketing and business development chief, was kind enough to answer a few questions we had regarding the company's technology and business. Ian joined Nanotek Instruments in 2006, focusing on fuel cells. He later joined the Angstron Materials team.

Researchers from the University of Utah developed a new way to develop large arrays of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), aiming for applications in photodetectors. Their method can directly write a large array of 15nm GNRs on a multilayer epitaxial graphene sheet using Focused Ion Beam (FIB).

The researchers accelerated ga+ ions to 30 keV in vacuum using a FEI Helios NanoLab 650 dual-beam FIB machine. This removed carbon atoms from the graphene sheet with a 1.3 sputtering yield (carbon/Ga+ ratio). This technology can be easily transferred to pattern other graphene nanostructures such as spheres, rings and blocks.

Focus Graphite approved plans to invest $1.5 million CAD (about $1.38 million USD) in Grafoid. Focus Graphite also said that Grafoid recently closed a financing round with Blackwall Capital Markets and a "Friends and Family" private placement. In July 2013 Grafoid raised $3.5 million and I'm not sure if that's the Blackwall deal Focus Graphite refers to.

Grafoid's financing should bring them closer to the construction of their MesoGraf production facilities. Mesograf is Grafoid's graphene-based material announced about 8 months ago. Grafoid collaborates with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and their new spin-off company Graphite Zero on the production, development and marketing of this material.