Graphene Aerogel: Introduction and Market News - Page 2

Researchers at the University of Bath, in collaboration with industrial partner Integrated Graphene, have developed a sensing technique based on graphene foam, for the detection of glucose levels in the blood.

The newly developed sensor is a chemical one instead of enzyme-based, which makes the technology robust, with a long shelf-life and more sensitive to lower glucose concentrations compared to current systems.

Lyten, an advanced materials company developing lithium-sulfur battery technology based on Lyten 3D Graphene, has announced that it secured a prototype Other Transaction (OT) agreement in support of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) around high-specific energy storage and management solutions.

A core objective of the agreement is to demonstrate a lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery solution that will significantly increase the duty cycle of small satellites for the U.S. Space Force, which is one of many applications for the new Li-S battery technology. The ultimate goal of the effort is to develop a lithium-sulfur rechargeable battery capable of three times the energy storage capacity of current lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, enabling the use of higher duty cycle spacecraft and those that function longer during an eclipse.

Graphene Composites (GC) has announced a research and development partnership with Advanced Blast & Ballistic Systems (ABBS), a leading developer of active systems for protecting armored vehicles from mine and IED blasts.

The partnership will focus on the use of GC’s nanomaterials engineering technologies particularly GC Shield® technology to improve blast and ballistic protection performance of its systems, with testing and FEA modelling which explores the use of graphene enhanced materials as a part of its continued development of the underbelly blast plate.

An international research team, led by Germany's Kiel University (CAU) and including scientists from the University of Southern Denmark, Technische Universität Dresden, University of Trento, Sixonia Tech and Queen Mary University of London, has used aero-graphene to develop a new method for the generation of controllable electrical explosions. "Aerographene" consists of a finely-structured tubular network based on graphene with numerous cavities. This makes it extremely stable, conductive and almost as lightweight as air.

The research team has now taken a major step toward practical applications. They have succeeded in repeatedly heating and cooling aerographene and the air contained inside it to very high temperatures in an extremely short period of time. This enables extremely powerful pumps, compressed air applications or sterilizing air filters in miniature.

SmartIR, a spin-out of the University of Manchester, is working on a graphene-based smart coating for satellites, to allow them to control thermal radiation on demand, depending on whether a satellite’s surface is Earth’s shadow or on the side closest to the Sun.

This graphene technology is said to be a far more optimal solution as it is lightweight, has a low power consumption, can respond quickly to temperature changes, operates across the infrared spectrum, and involves no moving parts.

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are 3D printing graphene aerogel flow-through electrodes (FTEs), core components of electrochemical reactors used for converting CO₂ and other molecules to useful products.

Benefiting from the design freedom afforded by 3D printing, the researchers demonstrated they could tailor the flow in FTEs, dramatically improving mass transfer the transport of liquid or gas reactants through the electrodes and onto the reactive surfaces. The work opens the door to establishing 3D printing as a viable, versatile rapid-prototyping method for flow-through electrodes and as a promising pathway to maximizing reactor performance, according to researchers.

University of Bath researchers have developed a graphene-based light material that can reduce aircraft engine noise and improve passenger comfort.

The graphene oxide-polyvinyl alcohol aerogel weighs just 2.1kg per cubic meter, making it the lightest sound insulation material ever manufactured. It could be used as insulation within aircraft engines to reduce noise by up to 16 decibels - reducing the 105-decibel roar of a jet engine taking off to a sound closer to that of a hair-dryer.

A collaborative research project between RISE SICOMP, GKN Aerospace Sweden, Nexam Chemical and Woxna Graphite, aimed to explore graphene-modified composites for long time- and high temperature applications, which can be used in aircraft components and other applications where the demands for durability are exceptionally high. The project took place August 20, 2019 February 19, 2021.

Graphene was added as surface protection in the project, as a matrix modifier. Composites, with and without graphene, were manufactured and tested in the exact same way for comparison and reference.

University at Buffalo (UB) researchers have developed a novel 3D printed water-purifying graphene aerogel that could be scaled for use at large wastewater treatment plants.

UB's 3D printed ultra-light G-PDA-BSA aerogel. Image credit: UB and 3dprintingindustry.com

Composed of aerogel graphene and two bio-inspired polymers, the novel material is reportedly capable of removing dyes, metals and organic solvents from drinking water with 100% efficiency. Unlike similar nanosheets, the scientists’ design is reusable, doesn’t leave residue and can be 3D printed into larger sizes. The team now plans to commercialize its design for industrial-scale deployment.

Zen Graphene Solutions recently announced that it has signed a new research collaboration agreement with the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR, the German Aerospace Center) to investigate the use of Albany Pure graphene-based nanomaterials in the fabrication of novel carbon aerogel composites.

The goal of this collaborative research project titled, Development of Innovative Composites based on Carbon Aerogels, is to develop electrode materials for new generation batteries and will build on the collaboration between ZEN, DLR and Dr. Lukas Bichler at the University of British Columbia‐Okanagan Campus (UBC-O) that was previously reported.