July 2018

A team of researchers from Denmark, Italy and Portugal recently discovered a new mechanism for controlling electronic devices using molecules. The researchers have shown that the ferroelectric ordering of polar molecules attached to the edge of graphene can be toggle-switched by an electrostatic gate and can be used for memory devices and sensors.

Molecular electronics aims to use individual molecules to control electronics. The large library of molecules and techniques to modify them can create more sophisticated electronics than previously thought possible. The normal hindrance is the small size of the molecules. It's possible to create them, but they are incredibly difficult to handle. It is almost impossible to manipulate small enough features in ordinary materials to electrically connect with individual molecules.

Researchers at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) have measured the tensile strength of centimeter-scale monolayer graphene films, using camphor - a chemical that easily volatilizes at room temperature - as a temporary support layer. The mechanical properties of monolayer graphene pieces bigger than a few micrometers have never been tested, simply because moving such an ultrathin film to a standard testing apparatus has not been possible.

In this study, camphor is used as a transient support, and what differentiates it from conventional methods is that it is sublimed away in air at room temperature naturally, or at higher temperatures for faster processing. Thanks to this method, ultrathin films with an area larger than 1 cm x 1 cm are transferred without damage, then the camphor layer disappears in the air without leaving traces. In this way, tensile measurements were made on centimeter-scale 300 nm-thick graphene oxide film specimens, almost ten times thinner than previously reported. It was also possible to work with a graphene oxide film that was only 35 nm thick, and suspend it over a 1 cm x 1 cm hole.

First Graphene has announced a collaboration agreement with FlexeGRAPH to supply graphene for suitability testing in their products. FlexeGRAPH is developing advanced coolant technology using graphene-enhanced heat transfer fluids.

The nanofluid coolant technologyis said by the Company to represent a breakthrough in liquid coolants, establishing a new standard and showing up to 60% improvements in thermal conductivity over current competitors.

Scientists in Spain and Italy have developed a new approach for making few-layer graphene using a mechanochemical technique that exfoliates graphite with carbohydrates. This method could pose a "greener" alternative to the common method that involves exfoliating graphite using sonication that requires the use of toxic solvents.

A major drawback of using graphene for biological applications is its poor stability in aqueous systems. "Graphene is a strongly hydrophobic material, which aggregates in water and precipitates. To study graphene in biological media, it needs to be dispersed in aqueous solutions, without the use of toxic detergents" explains Ester Vázquez from the University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Now, Vázquez’s team has devised a new environmentally-friendly method for making graphene that could also make it easier to investigate in biological studies.

A team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have developed a graphene-based "artificial synapse" that does not process information like a digital computer but rather mimics the analog way the human brain completes tasks. The synapse reportedly demonstrated excellent energy efficiency comparable to biological synapses.

"The analog nature and massive parallelism of the brain are partly why humans can outperform even the most powerful computers when it comes to higher order cognitive functions such as voice recognition or pattern recognition in complex and varied data sets," explains Dr. Xiong, author of the study.

Canada-based NanoXplore recently announced a positive feasibility study for its graphene production plant. The company said that the independent feasibility study highlighted several improvement as compared to the project’s preliminary economic assessment (PEA).

NanoXplore is planning to build a 10,000 metric ton/year graphene production plan, which is currently the largest in the world. NanoXplore plans to offer graphene for $10/kg (USD$8/kg) starting from Jan 2020 under the GrapheneBlack brand.

A theoretical collaborative study by the University of Antwerp (Belgium), the University of Camerino (Italy) and the University of New South Wales (Australia) has explained previously mystifying experimental results obtained independently by two research groups in the USA, which showed coupled holes and electrons in dual-layer graphene structures sometimes moved in exactly the opposite direction to that predicted.

Device schematic: one sheet of conductive bilayer graphene carries electrons, the other, separated by insulating hBN, carries holes

The new work showed that this apparently contradictory phenomenon is associated with the bandgap in dual-layer graphene structures, a bandgap which is very much smaller than in conventional semiconductors.

Researchers at UC Riverside are attempting to integrate biological components with photovoltaic cells to deliver fully sustainable solar energy. The team's biophotovoltaic device is built from renewable carbon by integrating graphene hybrids and the phototropic protein bacteriorhodopsin.

Existing photovoltaic technology is not fully capable of realizing the promise of sustainable solar energy. Commercial and emerging photovoltaic technologies require energy-intensive extracting and manufacturing processes and often require metals like tin that generate social conflict and environmental harm.

A China-based company named Shenzhen Danbond Technology announced that it had begun mass production trials of a self-developed graphene product.

The product seems to be a highly-conductive film that can be used in electric vehicle batteries, to dissipate heat in electronic devices and in solar power generation and flexible screens, according to the company. It reportedly plans to begin mass production early next year.

Today we published new versions of all our graphene market reports. Graphene-Info provides comprehensive niche graphene market reports, and our reports cover everything you need to know about these niche markets. The reports are now updated to July 2018.

The Graphene Batteries Market Report:

• The advantages using graphene batteries
• The different ways graphene can be used in batteries
• Various types of graphene materials
• What's on the market today
• Detailed specifications of some graphene-enhanced anode material
• Personal contact details into most graphene developers

The report package provides a good introduction to the graphene battery - present and future. It includes a list of all graphene companies involved with batteries and gives detailed specifications of some graphene-enhanced anode materials and contact details into most graphene developers. Read more here!