Dotz Nano recently reported a successful industrial production pilot to mark special packages with its advanced marker named ValiDotz, to prevent counterfeiting of top brands in China.

The production pilot was performed together with Kecai Printing Company (a subsidiary of Brilliant Circle Holding International Limited, the industry leader in China's cigarette packaging industry), at their top-tier Shenzhen facilities, and its results were deemed as a success.

Washington State University researchers have attempted to find a solution to the problem of fly ash, a waste product of coal-based electricity generation and a known environmental and waste management issue. Xianming Shi, associate professor in WSU's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and graduate student Gang Xu, have used graphene in their new method that makes use of fly ash for the production of concrete.

The durable new concrete eliminates the use of cement, which is known to be harmful to the environment. Instead of cement, the fly ash is used as a binder in the concrete. By doing this, Shi and Xu are able to tackle two environmental issues with one solution.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have been working replace oil with solid lubricants such as graphene. Argonne’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program supplied the seed money needed to begin experimentation towards that end. This work may have far reaching implications both inside and outside the automobile industry. It could help wind turbines move with greater ease, allowing them to produce more energy. It also can better seal off machinery as it pumps oil or gas from the ground or out at sea.

The graphene-encapsulated diamond ball bearings translate the nanoscale superlubricity into a macroscale phenomenon

Graphene can also be used to better protect ball bearings, which can corrode over time when exposed to water, a process commonly referred to as tribo-corrosion. The Argonne-developed process based on graphene has shown that a few layers of graphene not only reduced friction in steel rubbing against steel by seven times and the wear by 10,000 times but also significantly reduced the tribo-corrosion problem.

Promethient, an early stage U.S-based company that developed graphene-enhanced seat warmer technology, has received a large (though undisclosed) equity investment from Faurecia Ventures, the investment arm of Nanterre, France-based Faurecia, the sixth-largest auto supplier in the world, with a big American presence.

The funding will allow Promethient to ramp up product development and marketing and also provides it with a very large early customer. The investment will also allow Promethient to sell to other auto suppliers and makers.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter (Beijing), looked at the interactions of water molecules with various graphene-covered surfaces and found that graphene coatings may offer the ability to control the water evaporation process from various surfaces.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Yongfeng Huang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: "Water droplet evaporation is a ubiquitous and complicated phenomenon, and plays a pivotal role in nature and industry. Understanding its mechanism at the atomic scale, and controlling evaporation rate rationally is important for applications including heat transfer and body-temperature control. However, it remains a significant challenge". The team's experiments showed that a graphene coating controls water evaporation by suppressing the evaporation rate on hydrophilic surfaces, and accelerating evaporation on hydrophobic ones.

Green Science Alliance, part of the Fuji Pigment corporation, has created graphene quantum dot inkjet ink. The prepared graphene quantum dot inkjet ink can be printed on various types of substrates including regular paper and films.

The ink is invisible under normal room light and becomes visible when lit by specific light types. In addition, emission spectra peak will be different depending on the different wavelength of illuminated light, which can be useful for anti-counterfeiting applications.

Directa Plus has announced that Oakley, in collaboration with Bioracer, a designer and manufacturer of customized clothing for cycling, have launched the G+ Graphene Aero Jersey containing the Company’s graphene-based products. Unveiled today at the July 2018 EUROBIKE trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, the new jersey is designed to leverage the unique properties of Graphene Plus (G+) to dissipate heat from the rider’s body.

Directa Plus' printed G+ planar thermal circuit distributes the heat generated by the body and dissipates it when needed to improve the comfort of the wearer and enable riders to use less energy to regulate their body temperature. Fabrics treated with G+ are also electrostatic and bacteriostatic. These properties contribute to moisture management and have an anti-odor effect, and, if placed on the outside of the garment, G+ reduces the friction with air and water to facilitate top sporting performance.

ZNShine Solar is a maker of PV modules, PV power station and EPC, founded in 1988 in China. In May 2018, ZNShine Solar launched the G12 evolution era series - a 12-busbar graphene module, 5-busbar graphene module and double-glass graphene module. According to reports, the application of ZS's graphene film layer increases light transmission performance of the glass itself. In addition, Znshine Solar's modules are self-cleaning.

Now, reports suggest that ZNShine Solar has won the bid to provide 37.5MW of PV modules to Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), India's largest power generation equipment manufacturer. The deal makes ZNShine Solar the first overseas module supplier to win a contract with BHEL. According to the contract,10% of the shipment will be graphene-coated solar panel and all deliveries will be made by October.

A new study out of Boise State University in the U.S may one day lead to new graphene-based treatments for osteoarthritis, potentially preventing the need for joint replacement.

The study investigates the compressive mechanical properties of graphene foam soft tissue composites. Previous studies have shown graphene foam’s compatibility with chondrogenic cell lines for cartilage tissue engineering. This is reportedly the first study to focus on the viscoelastic behavior of the engineered tissue to test the functionality of the grown cartilage.

A new initiative called "The Technical Standards Development and Application Demonstration Base of Graphene-Modified Lubricants" was launched at LiuGong’s Global R&D Center in Liuzhou, China. Co-built by the China Innovation Alliance of the Graphene Industry and Guangxi Liugong Machinery (a leading China-based construction equipment manufacturer), it aims to become a major base in China that concentrates on the transformation of graphene’s scientific research into real world applications.

The partnership also includes building a joint laboratory and undertaking independent test tasks from other companies in the future. The initiative will push the R&D and innovation of graphene-modified lubricant products at LiuGong and will also give the firm a chance to participate in drafting industry standards directly.