March 2019

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standard ISO/TR 19733:2019, Nanotechnologies — Matrix of properties and measurement techniques for graphene and related two-dimensional (2D) materials.

ISO states that since graphene was discovered in 2004, it has become one of the most attractive materials in application research and device industry due to its supreme material properties and it is expected that applications of graphene could replace many of the current device development technology in flexible touch panel, organic light emitting diode (OLED), solar cell, supercapacitor, and electromagnetic shielding.

Due to graphene's 2D geometry, most of the device applications require graphene to be partially or fully supported by a substrate, which is typically silicon dioxide (SiO₂). An important example of a typical graphene structure on SiO₂ is the graphene field effect transistor GFET, a sheet of graphene connected to metal terminals on the planar substrate. The current common understanding is that graphene interacts with SiO₂ through weak, long-range van der Waals forces, even though experimental evidence suggests a surprisingly strong interaction between graphene and SiO2 that affects all properties of the device.

Now, a multinational research team from the University of Trento, Italian Space Agency and Fondazione Bruno Kessler in Italy, Graphenea in Spain, Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences and University of Patras in Greece, and Queen Mary University of London in the UK has shown that surface charges on the oxide are a main factor of strong interaction between graphene and SiO₂, paving the way for designing 2D material interaction with a substrate through manipulation of surface charges. Such control of graphene-substrate interactions would facilitate the development of new graphene-based microelectronic devices.

First Graphene has received a Research and Development refund of over $680,000 AUD (around $480,000 USD). The refund will supplement the Company’s working capital as it advances its graphene commercialization strategies.

The company was recently incorporated in the UK and is a Tier 1 partner at the Graphene Engineering and Innovation Centre (GEIC), Manchester, UK.

Mitsubishi has reportedly developed graphene-based MWIR sensors with extraordinarily high sensitivity. Thanks to an internal graphene FET gain, the responsivity is said to be 10 times higher than that of quantum-type IR sensors with no internal amplification. Mitsubishi uses graphene FET and leverages its high electron mobility.

Other than a graphene-based FET, reports suggest that there is "a light-amplifying part" that produces photoelectrons and photoholes and is placed under the graphene. At a very low temperature of, for example, 80K, the responsivity increases even more, by a factor of 100x.

Cardea, (formerly called Nanomedical Diagnostics), U.S-based manufacturer of a biology-enabled transistor technology made from graphene-based biosensors, announced that it raised $7.8 million Series A-1 financing.

The round was led by Alexandria Venture Investments, with participation from new and existing investors, including Series A round lead investor Serra Ventures. Jonathan Kabakoff, senior principal, science and technology at Alexandria Venture Investments, has taken a seat on Cardea’s board of directors, joining early investor Tim Hoerr, CEO and managing partner at Serra Ventures.

China-based Wuxi Graphene Film (owned by Grahope New Materials and The Sixth Element) produces patterned CVD graphene films for heating applications. These films are adopted by several Chinese device makers for different heating products - for example Grahope's graphene eye mask we recently reviewed at Graphene-Info.

The team at Wuxi Graphene Film was kind enough to send a few such films for us to review. These specific films are designed for one of WGF's customers and include a proprietary design which includes a USB connector for easy setup - you just plug these into a USB power source and the films heat up very quickly.

Researchers at Swinburne, the University of Sydney and Australian National University have collaborated to develop a solar absorbing, ultra-thin graphene-based film with unique properties that has great potential for use in solar thermal energy harvesting.

The 90 nanometre material is said to be a 1000 times finer than a human hair and is able to rapidly heat up to 160°C under natural sunlight in an open environment.

Researchers from the Chinese Tsinghua University and CAS demonstrated a coupled photon-electron-ion transport phenomenon through graphene oxide membranes. Using the energy of light, cations are able to move thermodynamically uphill over a broad range of concentrations, at rates orders of magnitude faster than that via simple diffusion.

Based on this mechanism, the team further developed photonic ion switches, photonic ion diodes, and photonic ion transistors as the fundamental elements for active ion sieving and artificial photosynthesis on synthetic nanofluidic circuits.

Graphene Composites, a UK-based company developing graphene-enhanced bulletproof shields, has exceeded its crowdfunding target. GC attempted to raise £300,000 on Crowdcube, but ended up raising £510,680 (around 676,625 USD).

Once Graphene Composites had hit its crowdfunding target, the company sent out a message to its supporters saying: Thank You - by investing in GC, you have not only invested in a company that should provide you with a healthy return and strong dividends, you are also enabling us to develop and deliver products that will truly improve the quality of life for many around the world. For example, our GC Shield active shooter protection in schools now, and eventually our Lightning Harvester renewable energy sources. Thank You, from all of us on the GC Team.

ECD Lacrosse, manufacturer of high quality lacrosse equipment, has teamed up with Global Graphene Group (G3) to develop ECD's Rebel +Graphene heads, which were released in a limited edition.

The customized composite of G3’s graphene with ECD’s polymer reportedly benefits from graphene's properties, including its light weight and impact resistance. The resulting Rebel +Graphene lacrosse heads exhibit increased impact strength, increased stiffness, and no perceptible additional weight.