Haydale Graphene Industries recently stated that it has entered a memorandum of understanding with Nanospan India to collaborate on developing advanced nano composites for the Indian market.
Nanospan, a graphene application development firm based in India, will work with Haydale to develop composites focused on the defence, aerospace and energy sectors in India.
Researchers at Rice University, who invented laser-induced graphene (LIG), in collaboration with researchers at Ben-Gurion University in Israel, have designed a way to make the spongy graphene either superhydrophobic or superhydrophilic.
Until recently, the Rice lab made LIG in open air only, using a laser to burn part of the way through a flexible polyimide sheet to get interconnected flakes of graphene. However, putting the polymer in a closed environment with various gases changed the product’s properties. Forming LIG in argon or hydrogen makes it superhydrophobic (extremely water-avoiding), a property highly beneficial for separating water from oil or de-icing surfaces. Forming it in oxygen or air makes it superhydrophilic (extremely water-attracting), making it highly soluble.
IBM recently announced that its researchers have identified a new way to trigger the body's immune response by using polymer-coated graphene sheets.
In some medical treatments, it is crucial to target specific places in the body; To that end, scientists have developed techniques where drug molecules are attached directly to the surface of a nanomaterial, such as graphene sheets. Combining the nanomaterial and the drug molecules, these "nanotherapies" could help clinicians treat tumors, for example, by transporting the drugs directly to the tumors, where they can be released onto the cancer cells to help fight the disease.
Zenyatta Ventures has announced the successful testing of its graphene oxide material by a U.S. based advanced materials company developing silicon-graphene anodes for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries.
Zenyatta stated that preliminary results showed the ease of processing with its graphene oxide and similar electrochemical performance compared to the control material that is currently being used by the U.S. company. Zenyatta's high-purity graphite was recently converted to graphene oxide and then sent to the U.S. collaborator for testing as an advanced nano-material in a new Lithium-ion battery.
MIT researchers have found that a flake of graphene, when brought in close proximity with two superconducting materials, can "borrow" some of those materials' superconducting qualities. When graphene is sandwiched between superconductors, its electronic state changes dramatically, even at its center.
The researchers showed that graphene's electrons, formerly behaving as individual particles, instead pair up in "Andreev states"âa fundamental electronic configuration that allows a conventional, non-superconducting material to carry a "supercurrent," an electric current that flows without dissipating energy.
The China-based Shandong Longju New Materials Technology announced that it has completed the installation and commissioning of a pilot biomass graphene production line and has put it into operation.
According to the reports, the facility uses corncob waste to make few-layer biomass graphene (citing Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' test results). The production line’s annual capacity is said to be five tons and is expected to increase to 300 tons.
An international team of scientists has designed a new way to produce single-layer graphene from a simple precursor: ethene (also known as ethylene) - the smallest alkene molecule, which contains just two atoms of carbon.
Heating the ethene to a temperature of slightly more than 700 degrees Celsius, the researchers reportedly produced pure layers of graphene on a rhodium catalyst substrate. The gradual heating and higher temperature overcame challenges that came up in earlier efforts to produce graphene directly from hydrocarbon precursors.
Researchers from the University of Exeter developed a new chip that combines a thermoacoustics graphene-based speaker, amplifier and graphic equalizer. A thermoacoustics speaker creates sounds by heating and cooling the thin graphene membrane rapidly by an alternating electric current - and the transfer of the thermal variation to the air causes it to expand and contract, thereby generating sound waves.
Thermoaccoustic speakers based on graphene has been demonstrated before, but the Exeter researchers are the first to embed such a speaker, an amplifier and a graphic equalizer on a millimetre-sized device. The researchers see possible applications in ultrasound imaging, telecommunication and maybe even intelligent bandages that monitor and treat patients directly.
Researchers from the University of Hamburg and Graphenea have succeeded in upscaling high-quality graphene devices to the 100-micron scale and beyond. By perfecting CVD graphene production, transfer and patterning processes, the team managed to observe the quantum Hall effect in devices longer than 100 micrometers, with electronic properties on par with micromechanically exfoliated devices.
The work started from graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on a copper substrate. Since graphene on metal is not useful for applications in electronics, the material is usually transferred onto another substrate before use. The transfer process has proven to be a challenge, in many cases leading to cracks, defects, and chemical impurities that reduce the quality of the graphene.
Apple was granted a new patent (filed in 2015) that details an audio device that uses a diaphragm made from a graphene-enhanced composite material. Apple's graphene membrane can be used in a speaker, microphone or headphone device. The patent specifically includes an image of an iPhone device as an example application.
Apple explains that as devices become smaller and lighter, it is ever more challenging to provide high quality audio using conventional materials - and graphene may improve the mechanical response of the audio device. In addition, in some cases, the use of graphene or graphene flake materials may reduce or eliminate the need for additional external damping.
