Oxford Advanced Surfaces (OAS) and 2-DTech (a Versarien subsidiary) has signed a collaboration agreement to develop a new range of products that incorporate graphene, into OAS’ proprietary Onto chemistry platform. OAS says these materials will enable it to enhance the mechanical performance and electrical and thermal conductivity of its products.

OAS says that its Onto chemistry platform delivers a range of versatile and reliable chemical surface treatments that are used to improve the adhesion of paints, coatings and adhesives to composite materials and engineering plastics. OAS aims to introduce a range of new products enhanced with graphene to address a wide range of applications and new materials challenges encountered in both its current and potentially new markets.

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Researchers from Swinburne University developed a graphene-based highly efficient solar absorbing film that absorbs sunlight with minimal heat loss. The film rapidly heats up in an open environment and has great potential in solar thermal energy harvesting systems - in addition to other applications such as thermophotovoltaics (directly converting heat to electricity), solar seawater desalination, light emitters and photodetectors.

This is the 2nd-generation material developed by the same group - now with a thickness of only 30 nm and improved performance and longer lifetime. The researchers have now created a first prototype and also suggest a scalable low-cost manufacturing process.

Graphene Flagship partners Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, CIC EnergiGUNE and INCAR-CSIC, Spain, have produced rechargeable batteries and energy storage devices made of a non-toxic and environmentally friendly graphene-based material.

With current metal-ion batteries reaching their theoretical limitations in terms of cycle life, capacity and power, researchers focused on metal-air alternatives, such as sodium-air (Na-O₂) batteries.

A research team at Delft University of Technology has developed a mathematical model that can be used to guide the large-scale production of graphene.

Our model is the first to give a detailed view of what happens at the micro and nanoscale when graphene is produced from plain graphite using energetic fluid mixing, says Dr. Lorenzo Botto, researcher at the department of Process & Energy at TU Delft. The model will help the design of large-scale production processes, paving the way for graphene to be incorporated in commercial applications from energy storage devices to biomedicine.

Verditek, developer of lightweight solar panels in Italy, recently raised GBP 505,750 (USD 663,600/EUR 578,219) before expenses, which it plans to use mainly to fund commercial opportunities announced earlier this year. Some of the proceeds will go towards the joint development program with Paragraf, under which the two are working on a silicon/graphene integrated solar cell.

Earlier this year, the Company announced framework, distribution and collaboration agreements and a number of trials with companies it described as big players in their respective markets.

Penn State researchers, in conjunction with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and Oak Ridge National Lab, have developed an atomically thin materials platform developed that could enable a range of new applications in biomolecular sensing, quantum phenomena, catalysis and nonlinear optics.

A single atomic layer of metal is capped by a layer of graphene, allowing for new layered materials with unique properties. Image: Yihuang Xiong/Penn State

We have leveraged our understanding of a special type of graphene, dubbed epitaxial graphene, to stabilize unique forms of atomically thin metals, said Natalie Briggs, a doctoral candidate and co-lead author on a paper in the journal Nature Materials. Interestingly, these atomically thin metals stabilize in structures that are completely different from their bulk versions, and thus have very interesting properties compared to what is expected in bulk metals.

Researchers at NIST have used a graphene membrane to solve a long-standing problem affecting the understanding of both living cells and batteries. When a solid and an electrically-conducting liquid come into contact, a thin sheet of charge forms between them. Although this interface, known as the electrical double layer (EDL), is only a few atoms thick, it plays a central role in a wide range of systems, such as keeping living cells nourished and maintaining the operation of batteries, fuel cells, and certain types of capacitors.

For instance, the buildup of an EDL on a cell membrane creates a difference in voltage between the liquid environs outside the cell and the cell's interior. The voltage difference draws ions such as potassium from the liquid into the cell, a process essential for the cell's survival and ability to transmit electrical signals.

A collaborative group of scientists has designed a device that makes use of graphene’s assorted talents: superconducting, insulating, and a type of magnetism called ferromagnetism. The multitasking device could enable new physics experiments, such as research in the pursuit of an electric circuit for faster, next-generation electronics like quantum computing technologies.

An optical image of the graphene device (shown above as a square gold pad) on a silicon dioxide/silicon chip. Shining metal wires are connected to gold electrodes for electrical measurement. (Credit: Guorui Chen/Berkeley Lab)

So far, materials simultaneously showing superconducting, insulating, and magnetic properties have been very rare. And most people believed that it would be difficult to induce magnetism in graphene, because it’s typically not magnetic. Our graphene system is the first to combine all three properties in a single sample, said Guorui Chen, a postdoctoral researcher in Wang’s Ultrafast Nano-Optics Group at UC Berkeley, and the study’s lead author.

Haydale has announced that its graphene nanoplatelets have been incorporated into iCraft’s recently launched cosmetic face mask sheet. These sheet masks are face-shaped sheet fabrics which utilize the thermal and electrical conductivity of graphene to help the skin absorb its contents through bio-electric currents.

Haydale has supplied graphene to iCraft since May 2019 for development work in a number of areas including cosmetic use. iCraft, based in South Korea, is a global technology company with interests in security and network solutions as well as the health and beauty sector. Following intense research and rigorous testing, iCraft manages to report zero harmful substances for graphene-based products, and has applied for three related patents.