Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new microfluidics-assisted technique for developing high-performance macroscopic graphene fibers. Graphene fiber have potential applications in diverse technological areas, from energy storage, electronics, optics, electro-magnetics, and thermal conductors, to structural applications.

Sheet alignment and orientation order of graphene structures induced by microfluidics design enable the microstructure control and optimization of thermal-mechanical and electronic properties of macroscopic graphene fibers

The team explained that It has been historically difficult to simultaneously optimize both the thermal/electrical and the mechanical properties of graphene fibers. However, the Rensselaer team has demonstrated their ability to do both.

Australia-based biotechnology company Circa Group has announced that UK-based University of Manchester has successfully produced graphene ink using Circa's bio-based solvent Cyrene. Circa said academics have described the material as the highest quality conductive graphene ink ever reported.

Currently, one of the most common and successful ways of producing graphene involves exfoliating graphite using sonication - a process in which sound waves are used to agitate particles in solution. This requires toxic solvents, which has led scientists to seek alternative production methods. According to Circa, the University of Manchester has now successfully produced graphene ink with Cyrene. The company also said that work by the University of York and the Spanish National Research Council showed that Cyrene had near-ideal physical properties for graphite exfoliation and the production of graphene dispersions.

Australia-based advanced materials technology company, Talga Resources, has announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Schunk Carbon Technology, a subsidiary of the German Schunk Group.

Under the agreement, Talga and Schunk will co-operate on the exploration and incorporation of Talga graphene (Talphene) into a Schunk product with applications in the automotive sector. Further details of the LOI and application are being kept a secret at this stage.

Finland-based Emberion recently announced its plan to present new products for visible light to shortwave infrared (VIS-SWIR) detection at SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco 5-7.2.2019. The showcased linear array is said to have been specifically designed for spectroscopy and use graphene as a charge transducing layer.

Emberion introduces a cost-competitive 512 × 1 pixel VIS-SWIR linear array sensor for visible to shortwave infrared spectral range. The sensor provides superior and consistent responsivity with very low noise over the broad (400 1800 nm) spectral range. The sensor comprises an array of 25 × 500 µm2 pixels monolithically built on a tailor-made CMOS readout integrated circuit. The ROIC contains an analog front-end, performs analog-to-digital conversion and signal pre-processing, implements an electric shutter, and provides digital data output with up to 16 bits resolution.

Researchers affiliated with the Graphene Flagship have demonstrated novel high-speed graphene-based data communication at a data rate of 50 Gb/s. Integrating graphene sheets into silicon photonics could form the basis for next-generation data communications.

The project was a collaboration between Flagship partners AMO GmbH (Germany), the National Inter-University Consortium for Telecommunications (CNIT) (Italy), Ericsson (Sweden), Ghent University (Belgium), the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) (Spain), imec (Belgium), Nokia (Germany and Italy), the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) (Austria) and the University of Cambridge (UK).

NanoXplore has announced the completion of the previously announced bought deal private placement for total proceeds of $30,988,240 CAD (around $23.3 million USD). The Offering was conducted by a syndicate of underwriters led by National Bank Financial Inc. and including GMP Securities L.P., Paradigm Capital Inc., Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. and Beacon Securities Limited.

BDC, a bank devoted exclusively to entrepreneurs, had an involvement in this fund-raise as part of its $700-million CAD, five-year commitment to help high-potential Canadian cleantech firms with market-ready technology or products meet the capital-intensive needs of scaling and achieving timely growth. We believe that NanoXplore’s proprietary graphene production technology coupled with its vertically integrated business model is a unique and compelling value proposition to enable commercial graphene adoption, said Susan Rohac, Vice President, Cleantech Practice at BDC. NanoXplore’s proposed 10,000-tonnes-per-year graphene plant will give the company a sizable first-mover advantage by producing large quantities at prices well below current levels. The company maintains strong R&D partnerships with leading Canadian research institutions and the management team’s steady commercial focus will ensure that the innovations produced continue to meet market needs.

In December 2018, Haydale secured £1 million of new working capital. Now, Haydale announced a direct subscription for £250,000.

Earlier this month, Haydale was chosen as one of the 10 top companies of 2018 by Graphene-Info, and in December 2018, Haydale made arrangements to partner with Wheelsure Holdings to work on a graphene pressure sensor.

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 January 2019.

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!

Researchers from ICN2, IMB-CNM, CSIC, IDIBAPS, and ICFO have designed a graphene-based implant able to record electrical activity in the brain at extremely low frequencies and over large areas.

The team explains that electrode arrays currently used to record the brain’s electrical activity are only able to detect activity over a certain frequency threshold. The new graphene-based technology presented in this work overcomes this technical limitation, allowing access to information found below 0.1 Hz, while at the same time paving the way for future brain-computer interfaces.

2018 was a busy year for the graphene industry, and here are our top companies for 2018 - ranked by the number of posts written about them on graphene-info.

1. Versarien
2. Haydale
3. First Graphene
4. Directa Plus
5. Talga
6. AGM
7. Zenyatta
8. Graphenea
9. NanoXplore
10. XG Sciences

While these figures are not of any official status, they do go a certain distance in assessing the market and its major players in 2018.