Graphene Coating: introduction and market status - Page 18

Global Graphene Group (G3), a holding company for subsidiaries like Angstron Materials, has signed Heads of Agreement with Lanka Graphite, a graphite exploration company. The joint venture entity (LGR 50%, G3 50%) will develop a range of commercial graphene projects.

G3 is reportedly scaling a broad range of commercial platforms of graphene applications in several , areas like energy storage, coatings, and thermal management. Lanka Graphite will supply vein graphite product into the joint venture in addition to assisting with sourcing investment, marketing and administration. G3 proposes to supply its experience in developing IP and research grants, commercialization planning and manufacturing infrastructure.

Researchers at the Germany-based Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research have developed a structurally colored coating based on graphene flakes, that changes color depending on deformation of the colored surface. Inspired by natural iridescence in fish skin, this coating could provide a simple way to warn of hidden damage in buildings, bridges and other structures.

The team made the coating in an initial red, but when deformed, it appears yellow, and when cracked at the micrometer scale, green. This color-changing ability comes from a careful alignment of the graphene flakes in semi-transparent, parallel layers, coating a glass fibre. Under stress, the layers compress and flatten, changing the interference and color of reflected light. In fact, by overlapping graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) with ordered and disordered features using a special deposition approach, unique fish scale like structures are achieved. Variable structural coloration is observed through the mechanical tuning of fine parallel multilayers.

Talga Resources has announced the signing of a joint development agreement with Chemetall, a global business unit of BASF Coatings Division, to co-develop and commercialize graphene-enhanced metal surface coatings.

Under the terms of the Agreement, Talga and Chemetall will cooperate to develop Talga value-added graphene products for use in Chemetall surface treatment products. The joint development program aims to set new industry standards for eco-friendly, high performance, corrosion resistant surface treatments.

Researchers at Yale University have developed an ultra-thin coating material, based on graphene oxide, that has the potential to extend the life and improve the efficiency of lithium-sulfur batteries. The newly developed material is a dendrimer-graphene oxide composite film, that can be applied to any sulfur cathode.

The researchers state that sulfur cathodes coated with the material can be stably discharged and recharged for more than 1,000 cycles, enhancing the battery’s efficiency and number of cycles. In addition, they said the developed film is so thin and light it will not affect the overall size or weight of the battery, and thus it will function without compromising the energy and power density of the device.

Thomas Swan has announced the launch of a high-performance graphene intermediate product for coatings formulators. The new Elicarb Graphene product is a cost effective, stable, easy to handle dispersion of Elicarb Materials Grade Graphene powder for formulation into epoxy-based coating formulations. The product is available now in liter quantities for testing and evaluation.

Thomas Swan has established a 20 tonne per year capability for the manufacture of Elicarb Graphene and Elinova Boron Nitride products at its UK manufacturing site in Consett, County Durham. Elicarb Graphene Epoxy Dispersion is a high performance intermediate product which is intended for further optimization and incorporation into customers’ existing proprietary coating systems. The graphene dispersion is targeted at improving corrosion resistance, thermal conductivity, chemical barrier and mechanical resistance in industrial coatings.

Applied Graphene Materials, in a recent update, said it made "significant progress" in all of its core markets of composites, coatings, oils and lubricants. Among the reported highlights of its work is its graphene-enhanced epoxy prepreg system MTC9800 to be shown at the JEC World exhibition later this month, after a year and half collaboration with SHD Composites.

In addition, the company has recently completed the first phase of a development project investigating the application of its graphene for resin infused Aerospace structures. During 2016 it continued work on its development program with Airbus Defence and Space, a division of Airbus Group SE, although details of this work are still subject to a non-disclosure agreement.

As electronics keep shrinking in size, several problems arise. One of these is that the copper wires that connect transistors to form complex circuits need to be very thin, but carry so much current that can cause them to break apart due to atoms being knocked out of place. One way of solving this, studied by a group led by Stanford University, is to wrap copper with graphene. The group found that this can alleviate this major problem called electromigration.

This was presented at a recent IEEE meeting that addressed the coming problems for copper interconnects and debated ways of getting around them. Growing graphene around copper wires can help prevent electromigration, and also seems to bring down the resistance of the copper wires. Generally speaking, the narrower the wire, the higher its resistance. Interconnects have had to shrink while increasing the current densities by 20 times, said Intel Fellow Ruth Brain at the meeting.

Grafoid has announced the development of the GPURE Membrane Platform, consisting initially of six next generation GPURE Graphene-Polymer membrane technologies intended for industrial markets.

GPURE Graphene-Polymer membranes include:

• GPURE (A) - A high performing, free-standing membrane developed for water desalination applications
• GPURE (B) - A stable, large area membrane developed for wastewater filtration suitable for very high temperature operating applications
• GPURE (C) - A large area free-standing membrane developed for water filtration pre-treatment and may be suitable for use in gas separation applications and may be used as a lightweight component for automotive and sports equipment applications
• GPURE (D) - A large area membrane that may be used for gas separation and sensing applications
• GPURE (E) - A large area membrane intended for use in gas separation applications
• GPURE (F) - May be applied as a graphene varnish for wood surfaces to protect against moisture, UV light and high temperatures

Grafoid, a leading graphene R&D and investment company, announced its entry into the global industrial coatings market with the introduction of its patent pending GrafeneX graphene coatings technology. Grafoid describes the GrafeneX technologies as a cost-effective way of laying down graphene coatings on large surface areas.

GrafeneX is a novel technology that creates a platform for the deposition of graphene and chemically functionalized graphene coatings. This process provides Grafoid with the capability to apply its diverse graphene-based coatings to many different types of material substrates with controllable levels of surface coverage, thickness etc. to meet precise end user requirements.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Office (CSIRO) has developed a novel method that uses soybean oil and other waste oils to produce graphene. Called ‘GraphAir’, the method is said to make graphene production faster and simpler.

The GraphAir technology is considered simple as it eliminates the need for a highly controlled environment and grows graphene in ambient air. This ambient-air process for graphene fabrication is fast, simple, safe, potentially scalable, and integration-friendly, CSIRO researchers said. Our unique technology is expected to greatly reduce the cost of graphene production and drastically improve the uptake of graphene in new applications.