An American company called Cerious Technologies is now offering several types of graphene-based cables and interconnects for sale. Cerious is focused on manufacturing and selling audio products like speakers, sound systems and various audio cables and interconnects.

Cerious' Graphene Extreme is an interconnect cable that utilizes graphene (which Cerious states is of its own manufacture) as a conductor technology. The company says that the ultra fine conductor enables the cable to operate linearly well into the gigahertz while being non-magnetic. This eliminates ringing and the bounce that occurs from normal terminations. It offers deeper soundstage, more detail and quieter backgrounds.

An international team of researchers from Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and the Institute of Electronic Materials Technology in Poland designed an innovative method for separating a layer (or "carpet", as they put it) of graphene from its supporting substance.

While traditional methods require separating graphene from a substrate (which leads to degradation of the mobility of the electrons), this research presents an breakthrough in that it enables the graphene layer to be ‘lifted’ from the substrate by forcing hydrogen molecules between the two layers. The researchers showed that the insertion of hydrogen molecules between epitaxial graphene and SiC promotes a dramatic change in the electronic properties of the material, leading to the change of the carrier type and significant increase in carrier mobility.

Note: Xefro was issued an order of liquidation after a legal entanglement and claims of deceiving the public.

The UK-based Xefro has created a graphene-based heating system called gRAD that can reduce energy costs up to 70% and quickly switch on and off. The heating system is planned for launch in July 2015 in the UK. Pricing details are not yet provided and the company plans further expansion to other markets later this year.

The company states that their system can reduce absorption of infrared to the minimum and ensure that most of the heat is emitted (out into the room) rather than simply heating up the wall behind the heater. Xefro has also created a mobile app for customers to use for controlling the products.

Australia's Strategic Energy Resources entered into an exclusive worldwide licence to commercialize graphene-oxide membrane technology developed by Monash University.

SER's wholly-owned subsidiary Ionic Industries has full rights to exploit and commercialize the IP, including by direct sale or by sublicensing, within the field of energy storage and capacitor materials, and devices from indigenous natural graphite. Ionic will pay a royalty to Monash if the commercialization is successful.

Graphene Flagship researchers show how graphene oxide, suspended in water, biodegrades in a reaction catalyzed by a human enzyme, with the effectiveness of the breakdown dependent on the colloidal stability of the suspension. The study should push forward the development of graphene-based biomedical applications.

As part of the interest in the health and safety aspects of graphene, risks are being investigated by researchers linked with Europe's Graphene Flagship with the safe disposal of graphene at the end of its useful life being of particular interest. The scientists examined the biodegradation of graphene oxide by an enzyme. They show that myeloperoxidase, derived from human white blood cells in the presence of a low concentration of hydrogen peroxide, can completely metabolize graphene oxide in the case of highly dispersed samples. They also found that highly aggregated suspensions of graphene oxide fail to biodegrade in the presence of myeloperoxidase, but the more stable colloids were completely broken down by the enzyme.

Skeleton Technologies, a European manufacturer of high-performance supercapacitors for transportation, industrial and grid applications, announced the completion of Series B financing of €9.8 million ($10.7 million) from a consortium led by a strategic investor in the electrical equipment sector. The round has been led by NASDAQ Tallinn noted Harju Elekter Group (HAE1T), which owns electrical equipment manufacturing plants in the Nordic-Baltic markets, and UP Invest, one of largest investment firms in the Baltic region.

Skeleton Technologies plans to use the funds for ramping up production of their graphene-based supercapacitors. In March 2015, Skeleton Technologies announced a deal with the European Space Agency to send supercapacitors into orbit for the first time in the European space programme.

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Aberystwyth University in the UK, University of Gothenburg and Dublin City University discovered the merits of using graphene as an alternative coating for catheters to improve the delivery of chemotherapy drugs. 

Since negative interactions may occur between the most commonly used chemotherapy drug, 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu), and silver (one of the most widely used coating materials in medical applications), the drugs may not deliver the desired therapeutic effect in patients. Also, a by-product of the reaction between 5-Fu and silver is hydrogen fluoride (HF), a strong acid, that may further compromise the patient. The scientists found that placing graphene on the internal surfaces of intravenous catheters (commonly used to deliver chemotherapy drugs into a patient's body) can help prevent these interactions and improve the efficacy of treatments, and reduce the potential of the catheters breaking. 

Researchers at the University of Tokyo, in collaboration with the University of California at Berkeley, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Harvard University, Konkuk University and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, have successfully produced graphene nanoribbons in a unique method that utilizes the phenomenon that inorganic nanomaterials self-assemble into regular structures on graphene.

The scientists found that gold cyanide nanowires grow directly on pristine graphene in aqueous solution at room temperature. They also noticed that the molecules aligned themselves with the zigzag lattice directions of the graphene. The researchers proceeded to fabricate graphene nanoribbons with zigzag-edged directions by employing the synthesized nanowires as an etching mask. The graphene nanoribbons created were 10 nm in width. Both the nanowires and graphene nanoribbons formed along the zigzag lattice, offering a potential method for controlling the formation direction of graphene nanoribbons, something that had not been achieved thus far.

Haydale recently announced the creation of a new aerospace unit within the composite division to focus on the development of graphene enhanced composite materials for the aerospace industry. This unit will be one of the branches operating under the HCS (Haydale Composite Solutions) name, formerly known as EPL.

To fast track this area of expertise, HCS announced several new appointments which should bring the company additional specific focused knowledge and experience. HCS's aim is to become recognized as a world leading innovative solution provider and a science, product and technology partner.

Garmor, which was spun-off from from the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2013, announced that it increased its single-machine graphene-oxide production capacity to 20 tons per year. Garmor is using its own proprietary automated environmentally-friendly production system that produces GO and has a single by-product: water.

Garmor offers their system as a turn-key solution, so customers can produce graphene oxide on-site. The 20 ton capacity is for a single machine, and Garmor aims to increase the capacity to 100 tons per year.