Carbon nanotubes and graphene - properties, applications and market - Page 6

A study conducted at Rice University shows that graphene nanoribbons, formed into a 3D aerogel and enhanced with boron and nitrogen, perform extremely well as catalysts for fuel cells and may even pose an alternative to platinum.

The scientists chemically unzipped carbon nanotubes into ribbons and then turned them into porous metal-free aerogels with various levels of boron and nitrogen, to test their electrochemical properties. It was found that the new material provides a wealth of active sites along the exposed edges for oxygen reduction reactions necessary for fuel cells performance.

A recent study performed at Rice University explored the toxicity of different nanomaterials. A major difficulty in assessing nanomaterial toxicity is that there are many different varieties of nanomaterials and it is too costly to test all of them using traditional methods. The goal of the study was to develop a low-cost, high-throughput method to solve this problem.

The scientists achieved this goal by testing nanomaterials on a worm called Nematode C. Elegans. They designed assays that can test hundreds of nanomaterials in a week. These assays test the effects of each nanomaterial on thousands of worms. The material cost for each assay is only about 50 cents. As a demonstration, they applied their technology to test 20 nanomaterials and found that most of them showed some degree of toxicity. This method can serve effectively as a rapid initial screen to prioritize a few nanomaterials for more expensive, dedicated toxicology testing.

Xolve, an american nanotechnology firm, raised $1.8 million (of a proposed $2.8 million funding round), with twenty-one investors taking part in the funding so far. This brings the amount the company raised in the last four years to $6.4 million.

Researchers from Rice university announced the invention of a cathode made of nanotubes that are seamlessly bonded to graphene, designed to replace traditional expensive and brittle platinum-based materials and make flexible dye-sensitized solar cells more low-cost.

The new dye-sensitized solar cells were found to be as much as 20 percent better at converting sunlight into power than platinum cells, with an efficiency of up to 8.2 percent compared with 6.8.  

The UK based Haydale and The School of Engineering at Cardiff University have announced the results of a new research that shows improvements in the mechanical performance of carbon fibre composites.

The research tested graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) and carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced technology. The results of this research show a 13% increase in compression strength and a 50% increase in compression after impact performance, indicating that fracture mode has been positively influenced. This is significant because damage resistance and compression properties are extremely important in high performance structures, such as composite aircraft wings.

Researchers from Rice University and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have developed a lightweight supercapacitor that can be combined with regular batteries to boost the power of an electric car.

This supercapacitor is made of graphene films as the electrodes and carbon nanotube films as current collectors, resulting in a device that demonstrates energy densities of 8-14 watt-hours per kilogram, and power densities of 250-450 kilowatts per kilogram. 

IBM is an embarking on an ambitious project to find the next-generation chip technology to replace silicon. IBM will invest $3 billion over the next five years in this project. IBM will look into graphene, carbon nanotubes, quantum computing, silicon photonics and more technologies.

GFET radio frequency receiver IC (IBM)

In the first stage of the project, they will try to build transistors in a 7 nm process, which they believe is already possible using silicon technology available today. But the second stage will look into different materials and architectures. IBM says that it is getting more and more difficult to shrink silicon chips further and silicon is reaching its limits.

Aixtron announced today that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has ordered an AIX BM plasma-enhanced CVD system to support their graphene and carbon nanotubes research. The reactor can handle 4" substrates and Aixtron will deliver it in Q3 2014.

This is KAUST's first BM Pro system, which will be used to expand their graphene research with an aim to find a "wide range of new applications".

Aixtron announced today that Shanghai University ordered a BM R&D reactor that will be used for graphene and CNT research at the University's Sino-Sweden Microsystem Integration Technology Center (SMIT).

The University researchers will use this new reactor for their research into CNT and graphene application using thermal- and plasma-based chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The researchers aim to develop next generation thermal interface/dissipating materials, heat spreaders, multi-chip interconnects and through silicon vias (TSV) for semiconductor chip packaging.

Researchers from George Washington University developed a carbon nanotube and graphene composite material based ultracapacitors that combines high performance with low cost. The specific capacitance of the device is three times higher compared to CNT-pure capacitors.

The researchers explain that the hybrid structure is useful because the graphene flakes provide high surface area and good in-plane conductivity, while the carbon nanotubes connect all of the structures to form a uniform network. In addition, the production method is simple, scalable and low cost.