Graphene composites: introduction and market status - Page 24

Australia-based advanced materials technology company, Talga Resources, has advised that it has signed a Joint Development Agreement with Biomer Technology, a UK-based polymer manufacturing and technology company, to co-develop graphene-enhanced thermoplastics for potential commercialization in the healthcare and coating markets.

This initiative is in the composites sector under Talga’s graphene commercialization strategy. Highlights of the JDA include:

• Creation of new multi-functional thermoplastic polyurethanes incorporating Talga functionalized graphene (Talphene) in Biomer polymers.
• Terms for evaluation, five years exclusive supply in the event of commercialization of products and intellectual property ownership.
• Commercialization of successful products for targeted biomedical and coating applications can be facilitated through Biomer’s existing global-scale commercial clients.

In January 2017 the world's lightest mechanical chronograph watch was unveiled in Geneva, Switzerland, made with an innovative graphene-enhanced composite material. Now, the research behind the project has been published. The unique watch was a result of a collaboration between the University of Manchester, Richard Mille Watches and McLaren Applied Technologies.

The RM 50-03 watch was made using a unique composite incorporating graphene to create a strong but lightweight case that contains the watch mechanism, which weighed around 40 grams in total, including the strap. The collaboration explored the methods of correctly aligning graphene within a composite to make the most of the material's superlative properties of mechanical stiffness and strength whilst negating the need for the addition of other, weightier materials.

Researchers at The University of Manchester and TWI have discovered ways of using graphene to prolong the lifetime of pipes used in the oil and gas industry. The team has designed a way of incorporating graphene into a polymer liner used in pipes that transport crude oil and gas from the sea floor. This technology has the potential to extend the life of the underwater pipework and therefore reduce the time between repairs.

Such pipes are generally made of internal layers of polymer or composite and external strengthening steel. Within these pipes, fluids may be at very high pressure and elevated temperature. In situations where carbon dioxide (CO₂), hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) and water permeate through the protective barrier layer of the pipe, the steel may corrode causing the pipe to lose strength over time, leading to a risk of catastrophic failure.

Versarien, the advanced materials engineering group, has announced that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with AXIA Materials to develop graphene-enhanced composite materials and smart graphene devices using both Versarien's proprietary Nanene graphene nano platelets and proprietary Graphinks graphene inks.

AXIA, based in South Korea, develops advanced thermoplastic composite material solutions under its LiteTex brand for the automotive, sports, electronics and building sectors, and produces pre-fabricated buildings under its Pixel Haus brand.

Australia-based advanced materials technology company, Talga Resources, has advised that it has signed a Letter of Intent (“LOI”) with BillerudKorsnäs, a Sweden-based multinational packaging company.

Under the LOI, Talga and BillerudKorsnäs will jointly explore the potential benefits of incorporating a Talga graphene (Talphene) product into a BillerudKorsnäs packaging application.

UK-based Perpetuus Advanced Materials announced the completion of a "real world" road testing program of car tires enhanced with surface-engineered graphene materials.

Over the last 6 months, Perpetuus graphene enhanced tires were fitted to high mileage, commercial light vehicles, which primarily travel on the UK’s A and B roads. The tests compared the graphene-enhanced tires with regular tires and monitored the performance of both tires. Perpetuus says that the tests showed that the graphene-enhanced tires produced an average of 40% increase in wear resistance over the regular tires.

A team of researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and University of California in the US, along with teams from the University of Electronic Science and Technology, Hunan University and Soochow University in China, report the design of a negatively charged graphene composite separator for the effective suppression of the polysulfide shuttling effect in Li-sulfur batteries. The negatively charged 3D porous structure effectively inhibits the translocation of negatively charged polysulfide ions to enable highly robust Li-S batteries.

In their paper, the researchers show that by using a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/sodium lignosulfonate (SL) composite on the standard polypropylene (PP) separator (rGO@SL/PP), they demonstrated a highly robust Li-S battery with a capacity retention of 74% over 1,000 cycles.

Scientists have unveiled Juno: a three-and-a-half-meter wide graphene-skinned aircraft that was given its first public airing on the North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA) stand as part of the ‘Futures Day’ at Farnborough Air Show. Haydale has supplied the enhanced prepreg material used to make the Juno.

The unmanned vehicle was developed in a partnership between Haydale, an aerospace engineering team from the University of Central Lancashire, the Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Center and the University of Manchester's National Graphene Institute. The partners have been working on the project to get the super lightweight plane ready for action. Billy Beggs, UCLan’s Engineering Innovation Manager, said: The industry reaction to Juno at Farnborough was superb with many positive comments about the work we’re doing". Having Juno at one the world’s biggest air shows demonstrates the great strides we’re making in leading a program to accelerate the uptake of graphene and other nano-materials into industry". He added: The program supports the objectives of the UK Industrial Strategy and the University’s Engineering Innovation Centre (EIC) to increase industry relevant research and applications linked to key local specialisms. Given that Lancashire represents the fourth largest aerospace cluster in the world, there is perhaps no better place to be developing next generation technologies for the UK aerospace industry.

Australia-based advanced materials company Talga Resources has reported high levels of electrical conductivity in concrete by using an additive developed from the Company’s graphene-graphite research and development laboratory in the UK.

(L) Talga concrete sample after melting 5cm depth of ice from 9v power. (R) Conceptual underfloor heating/road application.

The reported breakthrough offers substantial potential in existing and emerging industrial applications, particularly as concrete is the world’s largest construction material by volume. Talga shared information gathered from tests that show that the graphene-enhanced concrete is highly electrically conductive - attaining 0.05 ohm.cm volume resistivity.

First Graphene has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with newGen Group (WA-based mining industry supplier, providing liners for the leading iron ore producers, including BHP, RIO and Fortescue) for the development of graphene-enhanced products (primarily polyurethane liners) for the mining services industry.

Having established its graphene production facility at Henderson, FGR’s primary focus now is working with a number of manufacturers in a range of industries to demonstrate the benefits that graphene can offer to their product ranges. The newly entered agreement involves adding graphene to polyurethane liners and ground engaging tools used in the mining industry. The Project Equipment used in the mining industry is frequently modified with the installation of polyurethane liners to protect them from excessive abrasion, and these liners need to be replaced at regular intervals.