Researchers from Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology developed a technique to repair graphene line defects by selectively depositing metal (Platinum). Graphene grain boundary defects harm the material's properties, and the new method can be used to address this issue.

Using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), the researchers managed to use the platinum metal and deposit it on the line defects. The researchers used the new improved sheets to develop electrodes and hydrogen gas sensors at room temperature. In these two applications, the enhanced sheets outperformed the original graphene sheets three times over.

The researchers now say they want to try different metals (such as gold and silver), and also test other applications.

Today there are two main methods to produce graphene. You can synthesize the material, or you can exfoliate it from graphite. Now researchers from Penn State University developed a new way to produce high quality single-layer graphene sheets. They use a method they call intercalation - in which molecules or ions are inserted between graphene sheets in graphite and then these molecules pull out single sheets.

Intercalation was actually used way back in 1841, but it always damaged the sheets because it used strong oxidizing or reducing agents. In this new method, they use a mixture of acids without an oxidizing agent. It was found to work on both graphene and boron nitride. The researchers are now trying to speed up the process to make it scalable.

Towards the end of 2011, the University of Manchester announced its £61 million National Graphene Institute (NGI), which is nearly complete and will be one of the leading graphene research centers in the world. Now there are reports that the UK Chancellor, George Osborne, will unveil plans for a second £60 million graphene center in Manchester.

The National Graphene Center plan

The new center will be called the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre. Apparently it will be aimed towards development of graphene-based products with an eye on commercialization. The UK hopes that the new center, together with the NGI, will make Manchester and the UK in a position to lead the world in graphene technology.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania demonstrated a graphene-based mutli-modal bio-sensor that can transmit transducing protein binding events into optical, electrical, and mechanical signals.

Such a multi-modal sensor means that you can inspect a single sample and obtain information from the three properties (optical, electrical and mechanical). This could lead to a sensor that outperforms single-mode sensors even if each signal detection by itself is not the best one. The researchers say that their sensor achieves a 100-times improvement in the sensing dynamic range over current single-mode sensors.

In June 2013, Cambridge University's Graphene Centre (CGC) and Plastic Logic started to develop a transparent graphene-based backplane for flexible displays. Now Plastic Logic demonstrated the first display that was developed in that collaboration research. Plastic Logic says that this is the first time graphene has been used in a transistor-based flexible device.

The prototype (shown above) is an active-matrix electrophoretic (E Ink) display fabricated on flexible plastic. The electrodes are made from solution-processed graphene which was patterned after deposition with micron-scale features. The prototype has a pixel density of 150 PPI and was made at low temperatures (less than 100 degrees celsius). This is just a prototype of course and you can see many defects in display.

Applied Graphene Materials secured government funding for two one-year graphene projects from Innovate UK (previously known as the Technology Strategy Board). The first project will investigate the use and dispersion of graphene within polyester films in collaboration with DuPont Teijin Films.

For the second project, AGM will partner with CPI and PolyPhotonix to investigate the development of graphene-based transparent electrodes. Both projects are worth about £300,000 together, out of which AGM will fund about £100,000.

Following is a sponsored message from Lomiko Metals

Graphene 3D Labs went public on August 11th at $0.40 per share and at the time of writing, it hit a new 52-week high today of $2.09 per share for a gain of 522% in less than two months. Lomiko invested into Graphene 3D Labs earlier this year at an average investment price of $0.12 per share. Lomiko's gains are not yet being reflected in the company's share price.

Cientifica acquired a 24% stage in G Heat, a company that develops graphene-based infra-red heating units, which are are much more efficient than conventional heaters (up to 70% more so, according to G Heat).

To acquire the G Heat stake, Cientifica bought a private company called TEH Investment which owns the G Heat shares. TEH was owned by Tim Harper, Cientfica's founder and CEO and co-inventor of G Heat's infra-red technology. Cientifica acquired TEH in exchange for shares and plans to further invest £204,000 ($333,000 in G Heat via convertible unsecured load notes (this will increase their stake in G Heat to 45%).

Following is a sponsored message from IDTechEx:

IDTechEx is organizing its fifth business-focused conference and trade show on graphene and 2D materials in Santa Clara, CA on November 19 & 20. Graphene and 2D Materials LIVE! (www.IDTechEx.com/GrapheneUSA) covers the latest technology developments, applications, commercialization progress and end user requirements for these and related materials such as carbon nanotubes.

IdTechEx are co-locating this event with a series of other relevant conferences on supercapacitors, printed electronics, 3D printing materials and wearable technologies. All these sectors are major end user groups for graphene suppliers, and visitors to Graphene Live! will have access to all these events.

AMO GmBH, in collaboration with Alcatel Lucent Bell Labs, developed a graphene-based photodetector with a maximum data rate of 50 Gbit/s. They say this is the world's fastest photodetector.

The graphene is used as the active element in this design, and the detector also uses nickel/aluminum (Ni/Al), hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ), and buried oxide (BOX). This research project was supported by the EU's Graphene Flagship project.