Graphene composites: introduction and market status - Page 23

First Graphene Limited has announced that it has entered into an agreement to test PureGRAPH in a range of recreational equipment produced by Chemiplas.

The Companies will asses the effects of adding PureGRAPH graphene to the polyurethane used by Chemiplas in its range of recreational equipment.

In June 2018, First Graphene signed a Memorandum of Understanding with newGen Group (WA-based mining industry supplier, providing liners for the leading iron ore producers) for the development of graphene-enhanced products (primarily polyurethane liners) for the mining services industry. Now, the two have reported that PureGRAPH graphene has been successfully incorporated into a high volume application in the mining sector.

The reclaimer bucket liner strengthened by PureGRAPH graphene

A full scale mining reclaimer bucket was cast for an on-site trial. Test work has confirmed PureGRAPH readily disperses into the polymer resin used, and now further bucket linings will be cast and sold for use in northern Australia.

The Graphene-Info team attended this year's Graphene Week, organized by the Graphene Flagship in San Sebastian, Spain, 10-14 September 2018. The event attracted over 600 visitors from all over the world, and was extremely well organized.

While the talks and lectures were clearly scientifically-oriented, the commercial angle was also evident and many institutes and companies were there to show their recent product advancements. The Graphene Flagship's booth held a fascinating array of exhibits: graphene-enhanced retina and neural prosthesis (biomedical devices) by the ICN2 as a part of Braincom, Airbus' graphene composite for the leading edge of the tail of the Airbus A350, Nokia, Ericsson and AMO's graphene-based modulators and photodetectors for optical communications, a prosthetic robotic hand enhanced with graphene nerve sensors by the IIT, University of Cambridge's insole graphene-based pressure sensor and more.

Zenyatta Ventures has announced that it will be commencing a new research collaboration with the University of British Columbia (UBC)-Okanagan Campus and the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR, the German Aerospace Center) to investigate the potential use of Albany Graphite for graphene and graphene oxide in new composite materials.

Dr. Lukas Bichler, who will be leading the composite development project, said: UBC researchers have established a partnership with DLR, which seeks to provide unique educational and research opportunities for future engineers. Also, the partners bring together Canadian and European industry partners and allow effective technology transfer and rapid innovation.

Haydale has announced that it has been awarded a research and development grant from the Niche Vehicle Network to develop graphene-enhanced composite tooling and graphene-enhanced automotive body panels. Haydale is looking to reduce cycle times compared to existing tooling methods, as well as reduce weight and increase performance of component material.

A grant of £249,600, of which Haydale will receive £120,000, has been awarded to the consortium that Haydale leads, joined by Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) and Pentaxia. BAC is a British manufacturer of the Mono, the world's only road-legal, single seat super car. Pentaxia is a specialist in tooling design, machining (jigs & fixtures), and composite production.

Automotive giant Ford has announced that it will become the first automaker to use graphene parts in its vehicles, starting with the Mustang and F-150 by the end of 2018.

Ford acknowledges the difficulties of graphene manufacturing and use, but in partnership with Eagle Industries and XG Sciences, it has determined a way to make use of graphene reinforcement in certain components to strengthen and lighten them, as well as reduce noise. Since 2014, Ford and its partners have tested graphene-reinforced foam covers for noisy components such as the fuel rail, pumps, and belt-driven pulleys or chain-driven gears on the front of engines. The graphene is mixed with foam constituents, and the resulting parts are said to be 17% quieter, 20% stronger, and 30% more heat-resistant.

Sweden-based Graphmatech develops and produces novel graphene-based nanocomposite materials, under the Aros Graphene brand. The company recently secured an investment from ABB and Walerud Ventures, and the company's CFO, Bjorn Lindh, was kind enough to answer a few questions we had to him.

Q: Thank you for your time Bjorn. Can you give us a short introduction to Graphmatech's Aros Graphene materials, and how it differs from other graphene materials on the market?

Graphmatech has invented the novel material, Aros Graphene that keeps most of graphene's features, while making it easy to use in large industrial scales by preventing agglomeration, which is a key challenge for the use of graphene. Aros graphene is produced in powder form and can be used as additive, as coating or even in 3D-printing. The market introduction and launch of first products, filaments and thermal paste, will be introduced to the market in 2019.

First Graphene has announces the release of its PureGRAP graphene products. Over the last five months FGR’s management has worked with various universities and on its own production processes to ensure it could consistently produce a suitable range of products.

The initial product includes PureGRAPH graphene products with lateral sizes of 20µm, 10µm and 5µm. Further size options are planned to be added later. FGR says that due to its unique process it is able to produce graphene with larger lateral sheet sizes if a customer should have a particular application.

In 2016, Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) developed a vehicle made with graphene in its bodywork. Now, BAC received funding to undertake graphene research, with a view to pushing the technology towards production-readiness for the automotive industry.

The road-legal, single-seater supercar the BAC Mono received the Niche Vehicle Network (NVN) grant alongside Haydale Composite Solutions and Pentaxia Composites and will further explore the benefits of using graphene in composite body panels.

Graphmatech, a Swedish materials technology startup that develops and sells novel graphene-based nanocomposite materials and services, has closed a seed investment round led by ABB Technology Ventures (ATV), the venture capital arm of ABB, and Stockholm-based Walerud Ventures. Three other investors participated in the round.

Graphmatech has invented and patented a technology to ensure the separation of graphene flakes during the graphene production process, called Aros Graphene: a powder that can be dissolved in water, oil, plastics or metals, utilized to coat surfaces or 3D-printed without loss of graphene’s properties.