SiNode Systems, based at Illinois Institute of Technology’s University Technology Park, develops materials that make batteries last longer and charge faster using graphene. The company has been granted a funding of $4 million from Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler, along with the U.S. Department of Energy, to develop such improved batteries for the electric vehicle market.

Its technology, which commercializes a patented process developed at Northwestern University, can be used in any lithium-ion battery, such as those in cell phones or laptops. Our early focus is smaller markets, the company's CEO said. The electric vehicle market is our long-term focus, and it’s the reason we started this company.

Talga Resources has announced its intention to raise around $8 million USD from private investors, including the Smedvig Family Office, a Norwegian family office that has considerable experience in investing in the natural resources sector globally. Investors also have received options to raise a further $670,000 USD.

Talga's Managing Director stated that ...The predominantly Scandinavian based investment group shares our vision to make Talga a world-class graphene technology and production house, and brings new strength to our investor base. In addition, these investors provide commitment to long term financial support as we grow and allows Talga to accelerate its business plans. Importantly, the investment comes after a lengthy and detailed due diligence exercise. Talga looks forward to leveraging from the new European connections that will come from this transaction, particularly in Scandinavia."

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered that graphene sheets could be used to make chips up to a million times faster. The researchers found that slowing the speed of light to the extent that it moves slower than flowing electrons can create an "optical boom", the optical equivalent of a sonic boom.

The researchers managed the complicated task of slowing the speed of light by using the honeycomb shape of carbon to slow photons to several hundredths of their normal speed in a free space. Meanwhile, the characteristics of graphene speed up electrons to a million meters a second, or around 1/300 of the speed of light in a vacuum. The optical boom is caused when the electrons passing though the graphene reach the speed of light, effectively breaking its barrier in the carbon honeycomb and causing a shockwave of light.

ICFO researchers have developed a hybrid photodetector capable of reaching improved performance features in terms of speed, quantum efficiency and linear dynamic range, operating not only in the visible but also in the near infrared (NIR: 700-1400nm) and SWIR range (1400-3000nm). In addition, this technology is based upon materials that can be monolithically integrated with Si CMOS electronics as well as flexible electronic platforms.

To achieve this, the team of researchers developed a hybrid device by integrating an active colloidal quantum dot photodiode with a graphene phototransistor. By including an "active" quantum dot photodiode, they were able to increase charge collection in a highly absorbing thick QD film, which in turn increased the quantum efficiency as well as the photoresponse. The active quantum dot layer enabled a more effective charge collection by exploiting carrier drift towards the graphene layer instead of relying only on diffusion. The researchers then combined this scheme with a graphene transistor to register ultra-high-gains and record gain-bandwidth products, thanks to Graphene's 2D character and remarkably high carrier mobility.

Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) have designed a technique that could double the performance of 3D printed graphene-based supercapacitors. The new technique involves sandwiching lithium ion and perchlorate ion between layers of graphene in aerogel electrodes—a process which greatly improves the capacity of the electrodes while maintaining the high rate capability of the devices.

The 3D printing process used by the researchers to build the supercapacitors is a form of direct ink writing, consisting of two ion-intercalation steps before the hydrolysis of perchlorate ion intercalation compounds. According to the team this two-step electrochemical process increases the surface area of graphene-based materials for charge storage, as well as the number of pseudo-capacitive sites that contribute additional storage capacity.

Imagine IM has opened a commercial pilot plant for graphene production in Geelong, Australia. The plant is expected to produce about 10 tonnes of graphene per year.

Imagine IM has recently been working on a graphene coating technology which enables the production of conductive geotextile. This facility would be the world’s first conductive geotextile manufacturing plant and is anticipated to be launched in the Australia marketplace by the end of 2016 by Victorian-based Geofabrics Australasia.

Researchers at UNIST in Korea may have overcome the problem of carbon-based electrocatalysts for dye-sensitized solar cells with their new catalyst made from edge-selenated graphene nanoplatelets.

DSSCs consist of a dye-coated titanium oxide photoanode, an electrolyte and a counter electrode (CE). Currently, the most widely used electrolytes in DSSCs are iodide/triode ones, and the most common CE is an optically transparent thin film of platinum (Pt) nanoparticles on fluorine-doped tin oxide (Pt-FTO). While Pt-based materials are among the most efficient CEs, Pt is an expensive precious metal that is in short supply. That is why researchers are constantly looking for alternative CE materials and the best candidates so far appear to be carbon-based. Such materials include carbon nanotubes, porous carbon, carbon spheres, active carbon and graphene. A major problem, however, with carbon-based CEs is that they are active enough in Co(II)/Co(III) electrolytes (and have a high PCE, here), but not sufficiently so in I-/I3- electrolytes.

Versarien has announced that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Absolute Engineering, a company credited with producing the world's first carbon fibre woven inking system, to develop technologies for the printing industry, including graphene-enhanced composites.

The companies stated that their collaboration will allow them to develop a whole new generation of equipment with market leading material properties and performance levels. The unique combination of Absolute's position as a leading supplier of carbon fibre inking systems and Versarien's protected graphene technology, should rapidly move this venture forward and produce a range of innovative products that will disrupt the current flexoprinting market.

One exciting application of graphene is in the coating industry. Graphene's high resistivity can make for durable coatings that do not crack and are resistant to water and oil, while a strong barrier effect can contribute to extraordinary anti-oxidant, scratch-resistant and anti-UVA coatings. Don't miss our new article that introduces Graphene Coating.

Four layers of GO coating on polycarbonate

Carbon Sciences has provided an update on the graphene-based optical modulator that is currently under development at the University of California at Santa Barbara ('UCSB'). The goal is to create a design that is ultrafast, low cost, and low power.

During the process, the team developed a novel modeling technique that allowed for the precise calculation of optical waveguide properties containing graphene. This technique should theoretically enable more precise design and simulation of graphene optical devices, such as a modulator. In addition, the team reported that they would be able to fabricate a complete modulator device by the end of September 2016.