ZEN Graphene Solutions has signed an agreement with Chemisar Laboratories to provide various consulting services which will include the use of 2,300 square feet of office and laboratory space in Guelph, Ontario starting October 1, 2019. This office will become the company’s new graphene research and development center which will include a small-scale graphene processing and production facility. Additional space is available in the building which will allow ZEN to grow as needed.

In the coming months, ZEN is aiming to setup small-scale graphite purification and graphene-related production facilities including Graphene Quantum Dots (GQD’s) and Graphene Oxide (GO). These products will be available for research and development, application development and for commercial use.

Zen Graphene Solutions has announced the closing of its previously announced private placement, that raised CAD$1,050,000 (almost USD$792,000).

This fund will be used to support ongoing work on the Albany Graphite Project including environmental studies, graphene research and development work, material processing and for general corporate purposes.

ICFO researchers have recently demonstrated a new class of graphene-based flexible and transparent wearable devices that are conformable to the skin and can provide continuous and accurate measurements of multiple human vital signs.

These devices can measure heart rate, respiration rate and blood pulse oxygenation, as well as exposure to UV radiation from the sun. While the device measures the different parameters, the read-out is visualized and stored on a mobile phone interface connected to the wearable via Bluetooth. In addition, the device can operate battery-free since it is charged wirelessly through the phone.

Manchester University’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Center (GEIC) is to host the world’s first Graphene Hackathon on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 November 2019, in which teams will compete to develop and prototype innovative product ideas using conductive graphene inks.

The GEIC, which specializes in the rapid development and scale up of graphene and other 2D materials applications will host the event over 24 hours. IP, business and technical expertise will be on hand to help develop your innovative ideas, requiring no prior experience with graphene or programming.

According to our information, LG Electronics is aiming to start supplying CVD graphene materials worldwide soon, with an aim to accelerate the adoption of CVD graphene in various applications. LG is collaborating with research groups to identify new applications for graphene sheets.

LG Electronics developed its own roll-to-roll production process in addition to a specific quality control system for its graphene. LG says that its inspection system can manage uniformity deviations in crystal size, defects and electrical properties in its graphene to within 10%.

Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology have demonstrated a graphene-based detector with the potential to revolutionize the sensors used in next-generation space telescopes. Beyond superconductors, there are few materials that can meet the requirements for making ultra-sensitive and fast terahertz (THz) detectors for astronomy. Chalmers researchers have shown that engineered graphene adds a new material paradigm for THz heterodyne detection.

"Graphene might be the only known material that remains an excellent conductor of electricity/heat even when having, effectively, no electrons. We have reached a near zero-electron scenario in graphene, also called Dirac point, by assembling electron-accepting molecules on its surface. Our results show that graphene is an exceptionally good material for THz heterodyne detection when doped to the Dirac point," says Samuel Lara-Avila, assistant professor at the Quantum Device Physics Laboratory and lead author of the paper.

Mason Graphite has announced the sale of its investment in NanoXplore - the Company sold 22,188,333 common shares for a total net consideration of CAD$28.2 million (around USD$21.5 million). These common shares, representing 18.3% of NanoXplore, were acquired through various private placements by NanoXplore at a total cost of $4.5 million. After this sale, Mason Graphite no longer holds any common shares of NanoXplore.

The shares were sold to a group of buyers that included Martinrea International, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and Investissement Quebec. As of today, Martinrea holds 30,199,800 shares of NanoXplore which represents approximately 25% of the total outstanding shares of the Corporation.

Applied Graphene Materials recently added new adhesive materials to their portfolio, aimed at the Space and Defense sectors. These are said to be two unique graphene-enhanced thermally conductive epoxy paste adhesive systems, called AGM TP300 and AGM TP400

These novel epoxy adhesive systems reportedly exhibit high levels of thermal conductivity (between 3 and 6 W/mK), combined with excellent mechanical, adhesive and outgassing performance. Most significantly these properties are achieved with cured resin densities as low as 40% that of competitive conductive adhesives on the market. AGM’s TP 300/400 products are therefore highly versatile, while providing end users with significant savings in both mass and cost.

Several research institutions in South Korea are actively conducting research and development on next-generation solar cells, heightening expectations for commercialization. The research team led by Prof. Yoon Soon-gil of Chungnam National University has developed a new graphene electrode to produce perovskite solar cells at a low temperature. In addition, the team led by Prof. Choi Kyoung-jin of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at UNIST has developed a new concept tandem solar cell using transparent conductive adhesives (TCA).

The graphene electrode developed by Professor Yoon’s team can help create a perovskite solar cell at a low temperature and can raise both safety and economic efficiency.

MITO Material Solutions, a U.S-based nano-additive solutions provider, recently received $1.1 million for product development funding from the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grant program (SBIR) and the State of Oklahoma through the Oklahoma Center for Advanced Science and Technology (OCAST) program.

MITO aims to use these funds to continue with their push to manufacture hybrid nanoadditives that enable composite manufacturers to create lighter, tougher, and more durable products for the automotive, wind energy, aerospace, and transportation industries. MITO's CEO, Haley Marie Keith, was kind enough to chat with us and answer our questions.