Researchers from Cambridge University have demonstrated how graphene and other related 2D materials (namely hBN) can be directly printed onto textiles to create fully inkjet-printed dielectrically gated field effect transistors (FETs) with solution processed 2D materials.

According to the team, these devices are washable, flexible, cheap, safe, comfortable to wear and environmentally-friendly, essential requirements for applications in wearable electronics. The team also demonstrated the first reprogrammable memories, inverters and logic gates with solution processed 2D materials by coupling these FETs together to create integrated circuits, the most fundamental components of a modern-day computer.

Haydale, ARTIS, part of Avon Rubber and Trelleborg Antivibration Solutions have announced a two-year research and development project to investigate the use of Haydale’s patented plasma functionalization for the enhancement of recovered carbon materials that are produced from the recycling of waste tyres so that these materials have the desired properties to enable them to be reused in engineering applications of rubber.

The project will also use plasma functionalized graphene, either alone or in combination with the newly developed recovered black materials as a hybrid system, to develop novel multifunctional elastomeric materials and products that can find a wide variety of applications across several different industry sectors.

Versarien recently announced a fundraising to raise approximately £1.2 million, Now, the Company stated that it has successfully completed the fundraising, which "received a very strong response and was oversubscribed".

Given the demand, Versarien decided to increase the size of the fundraising, which will result in gross proceeds, before expenses, of £2,906,047. The Company will use the proceeds of the fundraising to purchase capital equipment and provide working capital to enable the various existing and prospective graphene related collaborations with global OEMs to be progressed. The intended capital equipment purchases are designed to enable the Company to increase the production capacity of its proprietary Nanene few layer graphene nano-platelets by a factor of approximately ten.

Two interesting projects focused on coating single-layer graphene with metal-oxide nanolayers were presented at the latest Thin Films and Coating Technologies for Science and Industry event in the UK. Researchers from Cranfield University, UK, together with collaborators from University of Cambridge and the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), applied alumina to form a composite barrier layer, while a team from Imperial College London, UK, used the unique properties of strontium titanate to fabricate a tuneable capacitor.

The researchers of the first project explained that in theory, graphene should represent an ideal ultrathin barrier layer, as the pores between carbon atoms are smaller even than the radius of a helium atom. In practice, however, crystal boundaries and missing atoms allow vapor to permeate through the material, and the weak van der Waals bonds between planes mean that even stacks of multiple graphene layers can be penetrated. The solution reported by the team is to take a graphene monolayer formed by CVD, and to then use atomic layer deposition (ALD) to coat it with a 2550 nm thick layer of alumina. Achieving conformal coatings on single-layer graphene is known to be difficult due to the material’s strong hydrophobicity.

Indian start-up Log 9 Materials reports a technological breakthrough using graphene to improve the capacity of lead-acid batteries by 30%. "The life cycle had also increased by 35%", Log 9's CEO and founder stated.

We are close to commercialization and trying to partner up with existing players in the market to cater to different needs of batteries in different applications, i.e operational requirements are quite different for a car battery as compared to a storage battery for solar panel applications, he said. So far the interest has been from domestic players including the defense sector. Some of them are interested for automobile applications, others for solar energy storage, etc".

Researchers at Rice University have built atom-level computer models of pillared graphene—sheets of graphene connected by covalently bonded carbon nanotubes—and discovered that manipulating the joints between the nanotubes and graphene has a significant impact on the material's ability to direct heat. The team stated that this could prove important as electronic devices shrink and require more sophisticated heat sinks.

Researchers who study or are working to make pillared graphene have primarily viewed two characteristics of the theoretical material: the length of the pillars and their distance from each other. The new study suggests that a third parameter—the nature of the junction between the graphene and nanotubes—should also be considered.

Saint Jean Carbon has announced its participation in two Collaborative Research and Development grants from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

The first grant for $274,000 (350,000 Canadian dollars) is for the continued collaborative research and development of modification and scale-up of graphene for supercapacitor applications . The Company will work with the University of Waterloo to develop the supercapacitor. The terms for the grant are divided over three years based on availability of funds. The second grant for $60,000 over two years to the University of Western Ontario is for the collaborative research and development of luminescent carbon dots for multi-applications.

Advanced material solutions company Versarien updated that it is currently in advanced negotiations with two of the world's "largest consumer groups" and expects to receive a first purchase order "imminently". The collaboration with these companies would involve research and development and testing of the company's Nanene few layer graphene nano-platelets in polymer structures.

Versarien also reported "record levels of interest in its graphene products" and also, said that it is set to raise £1.2 million before expenses by issuing new shares in the company. Proceeds will be used to purchase capital equipment and provide working capital to enable current graphene collaborations to continue.

Chemicals manufacturer Thomas Swan has announced an expansion of its range of formulated Elicarb Graphene materials with a prototype product focusing on the manufacture of a carbon fiber composite prototype.

Initial independent testing with unidirectional carbon fibers reportedly gave very encouraging results. Adding 1% wt Elicarb Materials Grade Graphene in the epoxy resin in the manufacturing of a carbon fiber laminate improved flexural strength and modulus. This gave the company motivation to move the development one step further and manufacture a commercially relevant carbon fiber prepreg (a woven cloth of carbon fibre pre-impregnated with resin). This prototype was prepared by working collaboratively with an established and experienced third party.

Xefro, the UK-based company that reported developing a graphene-based heating system in 2015, was wound-up (liquidated) by the High Court on 17 October 2017. It was determined that Xefro sold its products on the basis of misrepresentations and an investigation by the Insolvency Service found the company misled the public and failed to install systems safely.

The heating system itself was deemed not fit for sale and was described as a defective and dangerous product. In some cases the company failed to deliver systems at all despite receiving advance payments. In addition, the company falsely stated that claims of major financial savings had been verified by independent tests but in fact, the cost of operating the Xefro system was more than double and produced almost twice the amount of CO₂ emissions of a conventional heating system over a 24 hour period.