The Colloids Group is funding a joint collaborative Ph.D. research project with the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) at The University of Manchester. The project team will investigate the applicability of nanocomposites based on graphene and other two-dimensional (2D) materials to a broad range of thermoplastic materials, including polyolefins, polyamides and polyesters, and to understand how mechanical, thermal, electrical, rheological and gas-barrier properties (among others) are affected by the production process and by the materials used.

Phase 1 of this collaborative project was successfully completed within 12 months. Phase 2, which is about to start, is expected to be a three to four year research project. For this next phase, Colloids is funding and supporting a full time Ph.D. researcher who will be based at the University of Manchester with the Advanced Nanomaterials Group led by Dr. Mark A. Bissett and Professor Ian A. Kinloch.

Tetra Pak has joined the Graphene Flagship project as the exclusive representative from the packaging industry to explore possible future applications of graphene in food and beverage manufacturing.

As part of the programme, packaging material innovations are being examined to see how graphene could offer coatings to reduce carbon footprint in the packaging supply chain.

UK-based graphene developer Haydale announced its financial results for its fiscal year that ended 30 June 2019. Revenues in 2019 were £3.47 million (just a little over the £3.4 million revenues it generated in 2018) and an operating loss of £4.18 million (down from £4.88 million in 2018).

Haydale is focused on cost reductions and a new target on revenues and business and it also increased its investments in its US blank tooling business (it announced a US$700,000 order for that today) and its inks and functional capabilities.

Researchers from Northwestern University have created 2D heterostructures from graphene and borophene, taking an important step toward creating intergrated circuits from these nanomaterials.

Atomic-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy image of a borophene-graphene lateral heterostructure with an overlaid schematic of interfacial boron-carbon bonding. image by Northwestern U

"If you were to crack open an integrated circuit inside a smartphone, you'd see many different materials integrated together," said Mark Hersam, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, who led the research. "However, we've reached the limits of many of those traditional materials. By integrating nanomaterials like borophene and graphene together, we are opening up new possibilities in nanoelectronics."

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 October 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!

UK-based start-up company, GraphCase, has developed a patent-pending technology to create a composite polymer using graphene, which is made from 100% recycled plastics. A prototype for a graphene-based smart suitcase made from this material has been developed in collaboration with The University of Manchester. The world's first graphene suitcase is said to be 60% stronger, 20% lighter and has a lifetime warranty. The material used can also be recycled multiple times whilst maintaining its performance.

The overwhelming excess of plastic, detrimental to the environment, can be addressed by recycling, However, one of the barriers for using recycled plastic includes degradation and thermal aging of the plastic as well as mixing low-grade materials into the batch, which results in poor performance properties and lower reusability. The use of one 20" GraphCase cabin luggage could potentially reduce 6 kg CO₂ emissions into the environment.

Rice University team under chemist James Tour has transformed their laser-induced graphene (LIG) into self-sterilizing filters that grab pathogens out of the air and kill them with small pulses of electricity. This may be of special interest to hospitals, where according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, patients have a 1-in-31 chance of acquiring a potentially antibiotic-resistant infection during hospitalization.

The device reportedly captures bacteria, fungi, spores, prions, endotoxins and other biological contaminants carried by droplets, aerosols and particulate matter.

Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT), a private, coeducational research university located in New Jersey, United States, has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Bonbouton for the right to use and further develop a graphene sensing system that detects early signs of foot ulcers before they form so people living with diabetes can access preventative healthcare and confidently manage their health.

The smart insole can be inserted into a sneaker or dress shoe to passively monitor the foot health of a person living with diabetes. The data are then sent to a companion app which can be accessed by the patient and shared with their healthcare provider, who can determine if intervention or treatment is needed.

Applied Graphene Materials (AGM) and pressure vessel manufacturer Infinite Composites Technologies have collaborated to develop a composite material for space exploration.

The partnership saw the use of AGM’s graphene technology in two resin systems for cryogenic pressure tanks. These vessels are currently being explored by Nasa for use in several spaceflight missions, as well as International Space Station Experiments (MISSE), Artemis and Lunar Gateway programmes.

Researchers at The Ohio State University, in collaboration with University of Texas, Dallas scientists and the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan, have found that graphene is more likely to become a superconductor than originally thought possible.

(A) Schematic diagram of device geometry. (B) Schematic diagram of moiré superlattice formed by the twisted graphene layers. Image from Science Advances

Graphene by itself can conduct energy, as a normal metal is conductive, but it is only recently that we learned it can also be a superconductor, by making a so-called ‘magic angle’ twisting a second layer of graphene on top of the first, said Jeanie Lau, a professor of physics at Ohio State and co-author of the paper. And that opens possibilities for additional research to see if we can make this material work in the real world.