Graphene composites: introduction and market status - Page 26

Versarien has announced that it has signed an agreement with Luxus to develop a UK graphene-enhanced polymer supply chain, to enable the volume production of graphene enhanced plastics.

Luxus manufactures high quality thermoplastics from prime and recycled polymers and is the largest independently owned plastic manufacturer in the UK, supplying plastics to the automotive, packaging, civil engineering and a variety of other sectors.

Researchers from the University of Exeter have developed a new technique that incorporates graphene into traditional concrete production, to make more than twice as strong and four times more water resistant than existing concretes. The new graphene-reinforced concrete material also drastically reduced the carbon footprint of conventional concrete production methods, making it more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

All of the concrete samples tested have reportedly met British and European standards for construction. The research team states that the new technique could pave the way for other nano-materials to be incorporated into concrete, and so further modernize the construction industry worldwide.

Researchers from Tomsk Polytechnic University, along with additional international colleagues, have discovered a method to modify and use graphene without destroying it. Thanks to the method, the researchers were able to synthesize a well-structured polymer with a strong covalent bond on single-layer graphene.

The researchers call the result "polymer carpets". The structure is highly stable and less prone to degradation over time, holding promise for the development of flexible organic electronics. If a layer of molybdenum disulfide is added over this "nanocarpet," the resulting structure generates current under exposure to light.

The following is a sponsored post by XFNano

XFNano's graphene materials were recently used in two fascinating research work focused on advanced energy applications.

The first is a work by teams from Anhui Normal University, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences which developed a fast, one-step strategy to prepare sandwiched metal hydroxide/graphene composites through a kinetically controlled coprecipitation under room temperature. Such NiCo-HS@G nano-composite exhibits good electrocatalytic activity for OER, superior to most of the reported OER catalysts. Such performance and the facile preparation of NiCo-HS@G opens up a new avenue for the cost-effective and low-energy-consumption production of various sandwiched metal hydroxides/graphene composites as efficient OER electrocatalysts with desired morphology and competing performance for the applications in diverse energy devices.

Sweden-based Graphematech, a startup company that develops and sells novel graphene-based nanocomposite materials and services, has announced the development of a scalable method for coating polymer powder and granular with a layer of its Aros Graphene. The Company sees this is a major boost to the polymer composites industry.

This newly developed method is said to be very efficient for obtaining high quality dispersion of Aros Graphene additive inside a polymer matrix without the use of high shear forces in melt mixing. It enormously reduces production costs and minimizes property degradation for both the polymer matrix and the additive while maintaining high quality and homogeneous composite. The invented method can be also applied for coating polymer powder with different materials such as metals, ceramics, fibers, cellulose and more.

Applied Graphene Materials (AGM) recently announced the launch of two new series within its Genable platform dispersion technology range. The Genable 1000 series, meant to significantly enhance and reduce the content of existing anti-corrosion additives, and the Genable 2000 series, developed to deliver excellent anti-corrosion performance specifically on aluminium substrates.

AGM states that once formulated optimally into anti-corrosion coating systems, Genable dispersions have demonstrated substantial performance gains, providing extensions in coating lifetime of over 3 times under cyclic salt spray testing (ASTM G-85-94 Prohesion). Early adopters are reportedly already successfully applying these materials in real-world applications.

Mr. Xu Jiang, president and general manager of China’s XFNano, was kind enough to answer a few questions we had for him regarding XFNano’s graphene materials, technology and business. Mr. Jiang founded XFNano in 2009, and he holds a master’s degree from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications.

Q: Hello Mr. Jiang, thank you for your time. Can you update us on your graphene production process and facilities?

In 2016, XFNANO put its new production line into operation, which yields an annual production capacity of 50 tons of high-quality graphene powder and 1,000 tons of graphene dispersion. We believe this can meet our customers’ demands for large quantities.

A team of Indian scientists has developed a graphene-based nano-material drawn from seaweed for effective treatment of toxic wastewater without using any chemicals.

Membrane-based filtration processes are generally used to treat industrial wastewater but can’t usually fully filter out heavy metal contaminants. In order to address this problem, processes that use activated carbon, graphene or carbon nano tubes are being developed as carbon-based processes can help remove dyes and heavy metals through adsorption. Researchers at the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Bhavnagar, have developed a 'green' process by using seaweed as starting material. They have synthesized a graphene-iron sulfide nanocomposite from an abundant seaweed - Ulva fasciata through direct pyrolysis technique.

UPDATE: In March 2019, Surwon commented that the street-legal version of its graphene-enhanced tire would be prohibitively-expensive if it and its partner were to produce a finished version using the current rubber compound’s configuration. It appears that while Surwon sees potential for the tires, it may still be a ways to go before launching and arriving at competitive pricing. In April 2019, Surwon decided to discontinue its efforts to make a commercially-available graphene-enhanced road-legal tire.

Surwon Technology, a Hong Kong based materials developer, is reportedly conducting extensive testing on a wet weather tire that is reportedly capable of delivering significant performance improvements over the current "wets" used by racers during rainy periods on Grand Prix weekends.

Advanced materials engineering group Versarien has announced an agreement with a "world leading provider of aero engines and components, including avionics, electrical power and mechanical systems for aircraft".

The agreement will see Versarien and its new unnamed partner collaborate on research and development projects using Versarien's proprietary Nanene few layer graphene nano-platelets in base materials and sensory devices used in a variety of products in the aerospace and aero engineering sectors.