March 2021

South Korea's leading steel group, POSCO, will reportedly lead the creation of a graphene ecosystem in the southeastern industry port of Pohang in cooperation with research groups and Graphene Square, to meet the growing demand in the fields of semiconductors, electronics, electric batteries and composites.

POSCO said it has signed a business agreement with Pohang City, the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology (RIST), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), and Graphene Square, which is developing systems for the mass production of large-scale graphene synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD).

The collaboration between the University of Manchester and British sportswear brand Inov-8 started in 2017 and has already produced the G-Series range of graphene-enhanced shoes as well as a pair of hiking boots which utilize graphene, and also the X-Talon range of footwear. Now, Inov-8 has unveiled its latest trail running shoe, which is designed with new Graphene-enhanced foam.

inov-8’s new Trailfly Ultra G 300 Max shoe (Image credit: inov-8)

The cushioned foam, called 'G-Fly’, features as part of inov-8’s Trailfly Ultra G 300 Max shoe - a product aimed at "ultra runners".

Turkey-based nanomaterials producer Nanografi recently announced opening a new graphene production plant.

Although specific numbers were not disclosed, the facility, which will reportedly produce graphene at a low cost and at an industrial scale using environmentally friendly methods, is said to become one of the largest in the world thanks to its capacity.

ZEN Graphene Solutions recently announced a non-brokered private placement, for gross proceeds of up to CAD$2,000,000 (around USD$1.59 million). Now, Zen has updated that due to "strong demand", it has increased the size of the Offering.

The gross proceeds will now be up to CDN$4,000,000 (over USD$3.16 million) - doubling the initial planned total.

Applied Graphene Materials (AGM) has announced that its customer, Constellation Chemicals, has launched two new sealants in its car detailing product range enhanced with AGM’s graphene nanoplatelet technology.

The two products, Parallax, a graphene-enhanced ceramic sealant and Gravity, a graphene-enhanced snow sealant, launch after research and testing by Constellation Chemicals. The growing UK-based manufacturer of car care products claims that they offer performance enhancements such as hydrophobicity, chemical resistance to acid rain, road salt and bird lye and produce excellent durability, gloss, water repellence and beading.

The flash process, introduced by Tour and his colleagues at Rice University in 2020, has now been optimized to convert waste from rubber tires into graphene that can, in turn, be used to strengthen concrete.

The atoms reassemble into valuable turbostratic graphene, which has misaligned layers that are more soluble than graphene produced via exfoliation from graphite. That makes it easier to use in composite materials.

Haydale has announced that it has partnered with U.S-based 401 Tech Bridge to provide a HT200 Plasma Reactor and advanced materials support for their innovation ecosystem.

The HT200 Plasma Reactor will be utilized in the 401 Tech Bridge Advanced Materials and Technology Center, managed by the University of Rhode Island (URI), to support material commercialization efforts of Graphene Composites and other local composites and textiles-based businesses. This adds to 401 Tech Bridge's capability supporting its ambition to accelerate the adoption of new materials and support companies' efforts in developing new products.

Inbrain Neuroelectronics, spun-off from the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and Icrea (and associated with the Graphene Flagship), recently announced closing a $16.85 million (€14.3 million) round led by Asabys and Alta. The company has also received financial backing from Cdti and two international investors.

NBRAIN Neuroelectronics was established in 2019 with the mission of developing brain-implants based on graphene technology for applications in patients with epilepsy, Parkinson’s, and other neuronal diseases. These smart devices, built around an innovative graphene electrode, will decode with high certainty neural signals from the brain and produce a therapeutic response adapted to the clinical condition of the specific patient.

Haydale has announced that it has been awarded a £1.1 million loan facility by Innovate UK Loans Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UK Research and Innovation.

Haydale, with the support of Innovate UK, is implementing its plan to expand its capacity to manufacture functionalized nanomaterials (including graphene) to meet growing demand. Haydale will be investing in a HT1400 plasma reactor and ancillary equipment to provide a facility to be able to increase production volume by at least eight-fold once fully optimized. The reactor will increase production at the Ammanford facility to an industrial level with capacity to functionalize over 30 TPA of graphene and other nanomaterials on a single shift pattern.

ZEN Graphene Solutions has announced a non-brokered private placement, for gross proceeds of up to CAD$2,000,000 (around USD$1.59 million).

The proceeds of this offering will be used for capital expenditures in the scale up of the production of ZEN's biocidal coating material, operating expenses at both Guelph locations, capital expenditures at the York Rd, Guelph manufacturing facility, graphene research and for general working capital.