Graphene Foam: Introduction and News - Page 4

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) developed a new shock absorbor made from graphene foam. The foam's load bearing capacity is very high, and when combined with PDMS it is very flexible and has an even higher load-bearing capacity - in fact six times higher than the bare graphene foam. The researchers say this can be used for mobile devices.

The GF-PDMS composite is reusable - it can withstand several cycles of operation without deformation. The material also features excellent thermal and electrical conductivity. The GF-PDMS is very light - its density is only 0.54 grams per cubic cm (iron has a density of 7.87 g/cm³, for example).

Researchers from Rice University developed a new chemical process that is used to create a tough, ultra-light foam in any size and shape. The new foam (called GO-0.5BN) is made from two 2D materials: graphene oxide and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) platelets.

This foam can be used as structural component in applications such as electrodes for supercapacitors and batteries and gas absorption material.

Researchers from MIT developed a carbon-based sponge that can be used to make a steam-based energy generation device. They say that such a device can reach an energy efficiency of 85%, better than current solar-powered commercial devices.

The newly developed sponge is made from a combination of graphite flakes and carbon foam. It floats on water, and when sunlight hits it, it creates a hotspot which draws up water through the pores in the material, which evaporates as steam. The process generates very little heat and can produce steam at low solar intensity (the lowest optical concentration reported thus far).

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside developed a metal oxide modified nanocarbon graphene foam that can be used to increase the performance of supercapacitors (both density and charge times). The researchers say this new foam can enable supercapacitors that can deliver twice the energy compared to current commercial devices.

The researchers report that the graphene foam is used as an electrode system. The researchers developed a process that is scalable. They also report that the foam electrode was successfully cycled over 8,000 times with no fading in performance.

Researchers from Korea's Sungkyunkwan University vertically integrated ZnO nanowires on graphene foams (3D graphene) and used this as electrodes for Parkinson's disease detection - to selectively detect uric acid (UA), dopamine (DA), and ascorbic acid (AA) by a differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) method.

The researchers explain that their electrode is optimized as it has a large surface area with mesoporous 3D graphene structures that facilitate ion diffusion easily. It also features high conductivity from the 3D graphene foam and high selectivity due to the active sites of the ZnO surface.

Korean researchers have developed a new blue nitride LED that uses 3D graphene foam as a transparent conductor for the p-contact. They say that the graphene foam reduced the forward voltage by 26% and increased the light output by 14%.

The researchers used commercial 3D graphene foam, produced on 3D copper foam using chemical vapor deposition. The graphene foam on copper was then spin-coated with PMMA and the copper etched away (using ammonium sulfate). The graphene foam was cut into a square and transferred to the p-type gallium nitride layer of a commercial blue LED.

A couple of weeks ago we reported about China's Zhejiang University's new sponge-like solid material (which they call Graphene Aerogel) made from freeze-dried carbon and graphene oxide. Now it seems that these foams may be used as conductive scaffolds for neural stem cells (NSCs).

Korean researchers already discovered that graphene sheets is better than glass for human neural stem cells growth - exhibiting a greater ratio of neurons to glial cells. Now Chinese researchers say that graphene foams coated with laminin (or other matrix proteins) could potentially serve not only as compatible neural housing but also as a means to control the tenants electrically.

Researchers from the Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have shown that graphene can be used to create a superhydrophobic coating material that shows stable superhydrophobicity under both static as well as dynamic (droplet impact) conditions.

The researchers grew graphene over a nickel foam template which was then leeched away. The remaining graphene foam (layered graphene sheets) was coated with a Teflon layer. They say that the pore size and structure of the graphene foam can be uniformly tuned by selecting the appropriate nickel foam template.

AzoNano posted an interesting interview with Graphene Lab's Dr. Elena Polyakova. Elena discusses Graphene and its applications, and the business of Graphene Labs and Graphene Supermarket (their online graphene product store).

Elena says that their most popular product is 3D graphene foam. Graphene foams have a high surface area and porosity, making them ideal for energy-related applications. They also sell a lot of graphene on dielectric substrates, which are ideal for photovoltaic applications and graphene transistors.

Graphene Laboratories is growing quickly - and the company has expanded its production facilities and staff. The company has added additional space in the Stony Brook Incubator in Calverton, New York, with the space being used to host a new Chemical Vapor Deposition furnace for graphene growth. The staff has grown to over 10 employees (including four interns).

Graphene Labs told us that their highest selling products are silicon dioxide wafers with graphene sheets on them and graphene coatings (for applications such as ITO replacement and in electronic components). Another popular product is the company's 3D graphene foam materials, which because of their high surface area have potential applications in chemical sensing and energy storage.