Graphene 3D printing: introduction and market status - Page 8

Graphene 3D Lab has announced Graphene Flex Foam, a new commercial product that will be available through Graphene Laboratories’ e-commerce site, Graphene Supermarket. The new product is described as a Multilayer Freestanding Flexible Graphene Foam, that brings together a conductive elastomer composite with ultra-light graphene foam.

The foam, a highly conductive 3D chemical vapor deposition (CVD), together with the composite, brings together the best of several worlds of graphene usage. As a flexible foam, the material is both lightweight and reconfigurable, adding to ease of use and handling, with a porous structure. The Graphene Flex Foam could be used in conjunction with other graphene-related materialssuch as Graphene 3D Lab’s filament offeringsin the creation of electronics and other conductive products.

Graphene 3D Lab has launched ShareStation3D, a new web portal and free online marketplace that will allow users to download, share and print functional projects at no cost. The website already features several projects that can be made with Graphene 3D’s special conductive filaments, such as Arduino components, solar lights and battery housings, and unlike other 3D printing marketplaces, it supplies ready-to-print 3D files as well as full instructions, parts and supply lists and even free software in order to truly make functional 3D printing projects accessible to the home hobbyist.

ShareStaton 3D.com was developed and underwritten by Graphene 3D Lab, makers of functional and specialty 3D filaments. The company states that until now, most home 3D printers have been limited to one type of print material likely polymer and owners are limited to projects that are static like cupholders, models, or jewelry.  Using functional or specialty filaments allow users to print working projects, dramatically expanding what can be accomplished with a 3D printer.

Group NanoXplore is a Montreal-based company specializing in the production and application of graphene and its derivative materials. The company's CEO and President, Dr. Soroush Nazarpour, was kind enough to answer a few questions we had regarding NanoXplore's technology and business.

Q: Hello Dr. Soroush. Can you update us on your current graphene material production and your new 3-ton GNP production facility?

Our Montreal production facility is running at full steam. Not only are we producing a full range of graphene materials, we are making more and more graphene-enhanced polymer products. In October we will be moving to a new facility, having outgrown our current space. The new facility will double our lab facilities and more than quadruple our production floor space.

We are seeing especially strong demand for graphene-enhanced plastics and rubber, with most customers focusing on improving mechanical and thermal characteristics. We have also seen a lot of emerging demand for coatings for textiles and other flexible substrates for thermal management, improved surface properties and protection.

Graphene 3D Lab announced that it will be acquiring all of the issued and outstanding shares of Graphene Laboratories, their former parent company. Graphene Laboratories was originally with aims of developing graphene into a multi-use material suitable for a wide variety of applications.

Graphene 3D Lab will thus acquire an extensive existing client base and profitable retail operation that they will continue to run, and will also hold the provisional patent for a low-energy, chemical-free graphene manufacturing process. This will join the four US patent applications that Graphene 3D Lab currently has pending for its graphene technology.

Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK, funded by £500,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, are striving to use graphene inks to print intricate 3D structures, in hopes to increase the charge storage of batteries and supercapacitors that they create. 

The scientists are involved in a project, meant to run about three and a half years, to create graphene-based energy storage systems. They are trying to achieve a conductive ink that blends the extraordinary properties of graphene with the ease of use of 3D printing to be manipulated into a structure that’s beneficial for batteries and supercapacitors.

Graphene 3D Lab, the company focused on the development and commercialization of technologies which improve the capabilities of 3D printing, has released a video which shows the use of one of its conductive graphene filaments in a game controller. The filament can be used in 3D printing circuitry, capacitive touch sensors and electromagnetic and radio-frequency shielding:

Graphene 3D Lab announced a distribution and manufacturing partnership with Polymaker. Under the terms of the agreement, Polymaker will distribute all Graphene 3D manufactured specialty and functional filaments and provide filament manufacturing services on an as required basis. Polymaker's manufacturing operation is located in China, and the company operates sales and distribution offices in China, New York, USA, Netherlands and Japan.

Graphene 3D's on-line filament store will carry unique Polymaker filaments, including PolyMax PLA, PolyFlex^TM, and PolyWood^TM. Both companies plan to start offering each other's products on their respective on-line stores in July. The agreement also includes provisions for Graphene 3D and Polymaker to collaborate on the development of an expanded line of graphene filaments.

Graphene 3D Lab has accepted delivery of additional extrusion equipment that will double the potential production capacity of their functional filaments. This equipment will also be used to manufacture the company's specialty filaments including the recently introduced conductive filament sold through the company's on-line store. 

Graphene 3D Lab's CEO stated that the new extrusion equipment will help the company meet the increasing demand for conductive filaments. The extra manufacturing capacity will also allow it to move forward with production of new specialty materials and hopefully releasing at least three new materials in 2015. 

Graphene 3D Lab announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Ideum, a company situated in New-Mexico which develops large-scale smart-tables and walls. The agreement lays the foundation for joint research, product development, and marketing between the two companies.

Graphene 3D and Ideum will evaluate and co-develop products by Graphene 3D which can be used as capacitive sensors to interface with Ideum's products. Graphene 3D will also begin commercial on-demand 3D printing of coasters, joysticks, and styluses which Ideum clients can use to interact with their smart-tables. For example, styluses of various shapes, 3D printed in Conductive Graphene Filament, may be used as brushes used in photo editing software to give a more hands-on feel to creative work done on an Ideum smart-table.

Researchers at Northwestern University designed a method to print 3D structures using graphene nanoflakes, by developing a graphene-based ink that can be used to print large, robust 3D structures. This fast and efficient method may open up new opportunities for using graphene printed scaffolds and various other electronic or medical applications.

The relatively high volume of graphene flakes in the ink (60-70%), combined with the use of bio-compatible elastomer and evaporating solvents, grants the material electrical conductivity and mechanical strength, without making the printed objects brittle. Once the ink is extruded, one of the solvents in the system evaporates right away, causing the structure to solidify almost immediately. The presence of the other solvents and the interaction with the specific polymer binder chosen also has a significant contribution to its resulting flexibility and properties. Since it holds its shape, it is possible to build larger, well-defined objects.