Graphene 3D Lab has launched ShareStation3D, a new web portal and free online marketplace that will allow users to download, share and print functional projects at no cost. The website already features several projects that can be made with Graphene 3D’s special conductive filaments, such as Arduino components, solar lights and battery housings, and unlike other 3D printing marketplaces, it supplies ready-to-print 3D files as well as full instructions, parts and supply lists and even free software in order to truly make functional 3D printing projects accessible to the home hobbyist.

ShareStaton 3D.com was developed and underwritten by Graphene 3D Lab, makers of functional and specialty 3D filaments. The company states that until now, most home 3D printers have been limited to one type of print material likely polymer and owners are limited to projects that are static like cupholders, models, or jewelry.  Using functional or specialty filaments allow users to print working projects, dramatically expanding what can be accomplished with a 3D printer.

The CRRC, the Chinese state owned rolling stock manufacturer and the world's largest train builder, has developed graphene-based supercapacitors that can power electric buses with higher efficiency and for a longer period.

The CRRC has reportedly produced two types of capacitors, a 2.8 Volt/30,000 F capacitor and 3 Volt/12,000 F one. The former is said to be able to power trolley buses for up to 10 km after a one-minute charge, compared with 6 km in the previous generation. The latter one can provide enough electricity to power a tram for 6 km with only 30 seconds of charging.In addition to improvements in performance, the new products are also more energy-saving and environmentally friendly.

The Centre of Process Innovation (CPI) has announced that it will be part of a UK-based collaboration to develop the next generation of graphene-based ultra-barrier materials for flexible transparent plastic electronic based displays. The materials on which this work focuses on are required for the next generation of smartphones, tablets and wearable electronics and the twelve month project titled ‘Gravia’ will investigate the feasibility of producing graphene-based barrier films for next generation flexible OLED lighting and display products. 

The project combines the skills from each of the partners (University of Cambridge, FlexEnable Ltd, the National Physical Laboratory and the Centre for Process Innovation) and expects to deliver a feasible material and process system. It builds upon significant existing investments by InnovateUK and the EPSRC in this area. The resulting ultra-barrier material can be potentially used in a wide range of novel applications by the lead business partner, FlexEnable.

The Centre of Process Innovation (CPI) works to develop a graphene-based self-cleaning membrane filter with the potential to revolutionize liquid filtration across the globe, as part of a UK based collaboration that also includes G₂O Water International (G₂O), Haydale and Sellafield Ltd. CPI ‘s role in the project is to develop, characterize and scale-up the graphene based materials alongside applying the graphene coating onto the membrane.

The two year project aims to develop a low cost self-cleaning coating technology based on functionalized graphene, which should make the membranes highly resistant to fouling (the process in which a solution or particle is deposited on a membrane surface or in membrane pores such so that the membrane's performance is degraded). The coating will be formulated and validated by the consortium for deployment in a number of different applications, including desalination, oil and water separation and also nuclear waste water treatment.

The Graphene-Info team is excited to announce its attendance in the Cambridge Graphene Technology Days 2015 on November 05-06 2015 in Cambridge, UK. The 2nd Annual World Summit will encompass the entire range of activities, including researching, developing, producing, financing and investing in graphene and the commercialization of graphene-enabled applications. The conference features global leaders who are working toward driving the broader use of graphene enabled technologies.

If you wish to schedule a meeting with us, contact us here.

Researchers at ICFO have shown that a 2D crystal, combined with graphene, has the capability to detect optical pulses with a response faster than ten picoseconds, while maintaining a high efficiency. This can lead to faster optical detectors that can be integrated into photonic circuits.

An important advantage of these devices based on graphene (and other 2D materials) is that they can be integrated monolithically with silicon photonics enabling a new class of photonic integrated circuits. Although this study has been focused on the intrinsic properties of the photo-detection device, the next step is to develop prototype photonic circuitry and explore ways to improve large-scale production of these devices.

Graphene Nanochem reported their financial results for the first half of 2015. Revenues were £7 million (down from £20.4 million in H1 2014) and the loss before tax was £3.7 million (a £200,000 greater loss compared to H1 2014).

NanoChem says that they anticipated the decline in revenues "in line with the overall rationalization of the business to a suite of higher margin products and offerings". Following the collapse in oil prices, Nanochem exited the capital intensive low margin fuel additives business.

Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) developed a process for coating perovskite layers with graphene for the first time, so that the graphene acts as a front contact in silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells.

A traditional silicon absorber converts the red portion of the solar spectrum very effectively into electrical energy, whereas the blue portions are partially lost as heat. To reduce this loss, the silicon cell can be combined with an additional solar cell that primarily converts the blue portions and a particularly effective complement to conventional silicon is perovskite. However, it is normally very difficult to provide the perovskite layer with a transparent front contact. While sputter deposition of indium tin oxide (ITO) is common practice for inorganic silicon solar cells, this technique destroys the organic components of a perovskite cell.

Saint Jean Carbon, a publicly traded junior mining exploration company, has announced that it has secured a research grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Counsel of Canada (NSERC).

The grant covers the cost from the research and development work conducted at the University of Waterloo Applied Carbon Nanotechnologies Laboratory, where the company has been working on a number of projects, such as working towards creating superconducting room temperature graphene, using the patented sonicating method to better understand how to produce mass quantities of graphene and working toward building greater efficiencies in lithium battery grade materials.

Researchers at Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University have reported a breakthrough in efforts to non-invasively characterize the properties of graphene. This work could potentially enable scientists to rapidly monitor levels of strain as graphene is being fabricated, thereby helping to prevent the formation of defects. 

By using Raman spectroscopy, a technique that collects light scattered off a material’s surface, and statistical analysis, the scientists were able to take nanoscale measurements of the strain present at each pixel on the material’s surface and obtain a high-resolution view of the chemical properties of the graphene surface.