June 2016

Researchers in Taiwan have shown that graphene could be used as an efficient heat sink between p-n junctions in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). When glued to a polyamide via a titane coupling agent (TCA), reduced graphene improved the thermal conductivity of an interfacial nanocomposite by 53%, compared to a control that contained only the polymer.

In addition to being 53% more thermally conductive than the polyamide polymer alone, the graphene composite also came to a higher equilibrium temperature, signifying better heat transfer. When used to coat the interface, LEDs maintained 95% of their light intensity over 7,000 hours, while the control only maintained about 68%.

A team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego, is developing a chip that has a graphene field effect transistor which contains a DNA probe. The double-stranded DNA has a sequence coding engineered to detect DNA or RNA with a specific single nucleotide mutation. An electrical signal is produced by the chip whenever this targeted type of DNA or RNA binds to the probe.

Attached to the probe is a regular strand of DNA, and bonded to this strand is a weak strand. The weak strand has four G’s in its sequence replaced with inosines, effectively weakening its bond. Together, the two strands create a double helix which operates DNA strand displacement. Any DNA strands which perfectly complement the normal strand will bind to the normal strand, and the weak strand will be knocked off. Because the DNA probe is connected to the graphene transistor, the chip is able to operate electronically. Eventually, this information could then be wirelessly transmitted to a mobile device.

Researchers at Cornell University describe the ability to use graphene as a mediator between vibrational modes, allowing for direct energy transfer from one frequency to another. The team designed graphene drums with diameters ranging from 5 to 20 micrometers. Those drums can be set in motion either by an alternating electric field or by the random thermal vibrations of their constituent atoms (the same atomic vibrations that define an object’s temperature); the movement is detected through laser interferometry, a method devised several years ago at Cornell.

External voltage applied to the graphene membrane acts as a sort of tuning peg to control the membrane tension and engineer the coupling needed to control one oscillation mode by exciting the other. The team explains that it has shown that there is an effect that will convert energy from one mechanical mode to another mechanical mode. That allows to either damp out or amplify vibrations of one mode by activating the other mode, with an ability to change the fundamental frequency of this object’s motion.

LWP Technologies has raised $1.185 USD million ($1.8 AUD) to ramp up investment in graphene synthesis and aluminium-graphene battery technology. LWP reports that it had raised the cash through the placement of 320 million shares at 0.5c per share, with the offer finishing oversubscribed (LWP said that it didn’t accept the oversubscriptions, though, as it only needed the $1.6 million and wanted to avoid shareholder dilution).

LWP said it would use the funds to pump up its investment next gen batteries through its 50% in GraphenEra which is developing an aluminium-graphene battery. GraphenEra possesses the rights to lodged Patents on the Aluminium-Graphene Synthesis and battery technology that LWP now has options on developing.

The National Graphene Institute (NGI) recently signed a collaborative partnership with Haydale to accelerate the commercialization of applications. Haydale has been working closely with the NGI, and has now entered into a formal partnership which aims to leverage each party’s particular expertise in order to seek opportunities to develop and commercialize graphene products and applications.

This collaboration will likely see the NGI utilizing the Haydale patented process incorporated in its R&D plasma reactor for research into the functionalization of graphene and other nanomaterials. It will also look into the use, process and identification of nanomaterials to enhance performance in composites, sensors, printable inks, supercapacitators, rubbers and elastomers.

Versarien recently announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Spain-based CT Engineering to develop graphene-enhanced composite components for the aerospace industry.

The companies will collaborate to develop a new generation of aerospace components with market leading material properties and performance levels. According to company representatives, the unique combination of CT Engineering's position as a first tier supplier to Airbus Group specializing in advanced composite research & design and Versarien's protected graphene technology, will rapidly move this venture forward and produce a range of innovative products that will disrupt the current aerospace component market.

Researchers at Exeter used their GraphExeter material (compressed ferric chloride molecules between two sheets of graphene) to bring flexible electronics a step closer. GraphExeter allows for a new system that is a better conductor of electricity than graphene, and can be used to make large, flat and flexible lighting.

The main advantage is that the material is capable of high luminosity, reportedly beating comparable products by 50% greater brightness. One limitation with the current developments in flexible screens is that the brightness that can be achieved decreases as the screen becomes larger, but GraphExeter is said to overcome this.

Researchers from the University of Houston, the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH and Southwest Petroleum University in Chengdu, China, have come up with a graphene-based method to boost oil recovery, by achieving 15% tertiary oil recovery at a low cost, without the significant volume of chemicals used in most commercial fluids.

The scientists came up with a graphene-based Janus amphiphilic nanosheets a solution that is is effective at a concentration of just 0.01%, reportedly meeting or exceeding the performance of both conventional and other nanotechnology-based fluids. The low concentration and high efficiency in boosting tertiary oil recovery make the nanofluid both more environmentally friendly and less expensive than options now on the market. Janus nanoparticles have at least two physical properties, allowing different chemical reactions on the same particle.

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Researchers from Korea's ETRI Institute developed the world's first transparent OLED prototype that uses a graphene transparent electrode. ETRI demonstrated the new display at the SID 2016 tradeshow.

The prototype display was 26x26 mm in size, with a resolution of 155x60 (121 PPI). The display was a monochrome (orange) display. In the display on show, the graphene-based electrodes were deposited on the backplane of the display.