October 2019

XG Sciences, designer and manufacturer of graphene nanoplatelets and advanced materials containing graphene nanoplatelets, and Terrafilum, an eco-friendly, high quality filament producer for the 3D printing industry, announced a joint development agreement to develop, produce and market 3D printing filaments and coatings using graphene-based materials.

Chris Jackson, President of Terrafilum, points out, "The full potential for 3D printing is starting to be unlocked. The addition of XG's graphene formulations into our eco-friendly filaments will transform products allowing a greater variety of parts to be created at faster production rates using less energy."

The University of Nebraska Lincoln has partnered with the Department of Defense and received a $4.5 million, 3-year grant for graphene research. The University was one of several institutions chosen, and the only institution to lead the research effort.

After 8 years of research, the research team at Nebraska said this grant is pushing them one step closer to creating graphene technology. "This research actually has many practical applications, so we expect the structures we are making can be used in various electronic devices or electronic circuits," said Alex Sinitskii, an associate professor of Chemistry at the University.

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) recently stated that its researchers have shown a simple route to producing graphene platelets from graphite.

They have found that when graphite is suspended in an appropriate fluid and subjected to intense shearing force of machining, the layers of graphite separate into graphene platelets, a statement from IITM said.

Talga Resources has executed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with BillerudKorsnäs, a Swedish multinational packaging company.

The JDA reportedly results from successful test work completed under the Letter of Intent, signed by the parties in August 2018, regarding Talga’s functionalized graphene product, Talphene, used in BillerudKorsnäs fiber and board packaging products.

2D fab, together with SAAB and Blackwing Sweden, developed new graphene-enhanced components for the aviation industry that offer increased lightning strike protection and strength.

The project, called Multigraph, was launched in 2017 with the mission to create better components for the aviation industry. The aim was to use graphene’s multifunctional properties to increase the mechanical strength and electrical conductivity of the materials used, the latter reducing the amount of maintenance required due to lightning strikes.

This is a sponsored article by IDTechEx

People often talk about the killer application for graphene. Has one yet been found?

A killer application is one that has a large market and is uniquely enabled by that technology. Some technologies can become commercially successful over time without requiring a so-called killer application - and I believe this is the case for graphene.

In fact, one point of strength for graphene is that it has such a diverse and deep application pipeline. The image below demonstrates this. The image shows that (a) some applications beyond R&D are already in the early phases of commercialization, (b) that many other applications are close to commercialization, and (c) that the application pipeline is deep. Of course, graphene cannot be expected to succeed in all of these applications, but equally it is unlikely to fail in all. As such, this diversity will give, on the aggregate, a strong long-term resilience to the market.

Haydale has launched a range of graphene-enhanced prepreg materials for lightning-strike protection, utilizing functionalized graphene to improve the electrical conductivity.

The material has been developed in collaboration with Airbus UK, BAE Systems, GE Aviation and Element Materials Technology Warwick, within the NATEP-supported GraCELs project where the first iterations of materials were developed and subjected to lighting strike tests. The consortium is now looking to manufacture a demonstrator component using the materials developed to establish composite manufacturing protocols as a showcase part for commercial purposes.

Peter J Sarre, Professor of Chemistry and Molecular Astrophysics at the University of Nottingham in the UK, has released a fascinating work that infers, based on previously unassigned optical and infrared astronomical observations and comparison with laboratory data on graphene oxide (GO), that GO is a significant component of interstellar dust.

Dust particles play a major role in the formation, evolution and chemistry of interstellar clouds, stars, and planetary systems. Commonly identified forms include amorphous and crystalline carbon-rich particles and silicates. Also present in many astrophysical environments are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), detected through their infrared emission, and which are essentially small flakes of graphene.

PC gear company Cryorig has introduced its low-profile CPU graphene-enhanced cooling system for small form-factor PCs that can dissipate up to 125 W. The Cryorig C7 G is among the smallest coolers for higher-end processors available today. To make C7 G's high performance possible, Cryorig applied graphene coating on the heatsink.

As demands arise for higher-performance components, cooling designers are creating low-profile coolers rated for TDP levels of 95 W of higher. To maximize efficiency of such devices, manufacturers use copper for heatsinks, many heat pipes, and large fans. Cryorig decided to go one step further and applied graphene coating to the radiator’s fins. Thermal conductivity of graphene is considerably higher than thermal conductivity of aluminum or copper, so applying it on the fins could theoretically improve cooling performance.

Cardea Bio (formerly: Nanomedical Diagnostics) and Nanosens Innovations have joined forces to accelerate the development of the Genome Sensor: the world's first DNA search engine that runs on CRISPR-Chip technology.

Cardea has announced the finalization of their merger-acquisition of Nanosens Innovations, the creators of CRISPR-Chip. Cardea first came out with the news of the proposed merger in September, along with the announcement of their Early Access Program for the Genome Sensor. Built with CRISPR-Chip technology, the Genome Sensor is the world’s first DNA search engine. It can google genomes to detect genetic mutations and variations.