ERDC and NASA to explore graphene-enhanced water treatment systems for space exploration
Researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) are developing a water treatment system based on a mix of graphene oxide and a byproduct made from shrimp shells. Recently, ERDC's graphene research attracted the attention of NASA, leading to a collaboration with the agency to investigate the use of novel graphene materials as high-capacity absorbents for the removal of spacecraft water contaminants.
Graphene could significantly reduce the need for resupply and component sparing in space missions, potentially enabling crewed missions to deeper regions of space. Graphene-enhanced water treatment systems may one day be used to help extend future space missions and lead to safer intergalactic explorations.
IIT Guwahati researchers advance the use of modified graphene oxide in biomedical applications
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have developed cost-effective experiments for modifying graphene oxide (GO) that can be used by other academic institutions to train personnel needed for cutting-edge projects in semiconductors, nanoelectronics, healthcare and quantum technologies.
A team led by Rajiv K Kar, assistant professor, at the Jyoti and Bhupat Mehta School of Health Sciences and Technology in IIT-Guwahati, made these discoveries regarding the use of modified graphene oxide for biomedical applications, according to a recent announcement.
Researchers develop graphene oxide-doped silica aerogels for efficient removal of pollutants from wastewater
Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) and Tel Aviv University in Israel, have developed a graphene oxide-doped silica aerogel adsorbent that can remove trace pollutants from wastewater.
This graphene-modified silica aerogel reportedly removes over 76% of trace pollutants (PPM level) in continuous flow conditions, offering a sustainable path for large-scale water purification. The research team is dedicated to enhancing these results for large-scale applications.
Researchers report GO-based composite fibers as artificial muscles
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have fabricated meter-long composite fibers combining graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets with flexible, conductive polymers that can achieve mechanical strength, toughness, and actuation that surpasses biological muscles.
The team wet-spin a mixture of GO nanosheets and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT: PSS) into a composite fiber in which the flexible, conductive polymer is embedded in between aligned, closely-packed nanosheets. The addition of a depleting agent, polyethylene glycol (PEG), improves toughness and elasticity, while chemical reduction of GO to rGO increases electrical conductivity. Finally, the composite fibers are plied with nylon yarns to create a hierarchical composite actuator with capabilities better than typical biological muscles (75 J/kg work capacity and 924 W/kg power density).
Researchers design scalable graphene sensor array for real-time toxins monitoring in flowing water
A team of researchers, led by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, recently developed a path to mass-manufacture high-performance graphene sensors that can detect heavy metals and bacteria in flowing tap water. This advance could bring down the cost of such sensors to just US $1 each, allowing people to test their drinking water for toxins at home.
The sensors have to be extraordinarily sensitive to catch the minute concentrations of toxins that can cause harm. For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration states that bottled water must have a lead concentration of no more than 5 parts per billion. Today, detecting parts-per-billion or even parts-per-trillion concentrations of heavy metals, bacteria, and other toxins is only possible by analyzing water samples in the laboratory, says Junhong Chen, a professor of molecular engineering at the University of Chicago and the lead water strategist at Argonne National Laboratory. But his group has developed a sensor with a graphene field-effect transistor (FET) that can detect toxins at those low levels within seconds.
Researchers develop rGO-based approach to address oil-water separation challenges
Researchers from Qatar University (QU), Maimoona Mohamed and Nada Yahya Deyab, along with their supervisor Dr. Shabi Abbas Zaidi, have made progress in addressing the challenge of oil-water separation.
Their research focuses on developing a novel material for efficient oil recovery from oil-water mixtures. By modifying polyurethane (PU) sponges and cotton with reduced graphene oxide (rGO), they have achieved promising results in terms of hydrophobicity, oil-absorption efficacy, reusability, and cost-effectiveness, offering a promising solution to address the issue of water and soil pollution caused by oil spills.
Graphene-Info updates its Graphene Oxide Market Report
Today we published a new edition of our Graphene Oxide Market Report, with all the latest information, including both new research activities. Our market report is a comprehensive guide to graphene oxide (and r-GO) materials and their promising applications in energy storage, composite materials, bio-medical, water treatment and more.
Reading this report, you'll learn all about:
- The difference between graphene oxide and graphene
- Graphene oxide properties
- Possible applications for graphene oxide
- Reduction of graphene oxide to r-GO
The report package also provides:
- A list of prominent GO research activities
- A list of all graphene oxide developers and their products
- Datasheets for over 20 different GO materials
- Free updates for a year
This Graphene Oxide market report provides a great introduction to graphene oxide materials and applications, and covers everything you need to know about GO materials on the market. This is a great guide for anyone interested in applying graphene oxide in their products.
Researchers develop multi-material printer that enables quick and easy 3D printing of flexible devices
Scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Panasonic Factory Solutions Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (Panasonic) and Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP) have developed a multi-material printer using multi-wavelength high-power lasers, for quick and easy 3D printing of smart, flexible devices.
The multi-material printer works by utilizing varying wavelengths of laser, creating thermal and chemical reactions capable of transforming common carbon-based materials (polyimide and graphene oxide) into a new type of highly porous graphene. The resulting structure printed with this new graphene is not only light and conductive, but it can also be printed or coated onto flexible substrates like plastics, glass, gold and fabrics, creating flexible devices.
Researchers develop graphene-based wearable textile that can capture energy from body movement to power devices
Researchers from Sichuan University, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a graphene-based wearable textile that can convert body movement into useable electricity and even store that energy. The fabric can potentially be used in a wide range of applications, from medical monitoring to assisting athletes and their coaches in tracking their performance, as well as smart displays on clothing.
The accuracy of current wearable electronic devices and various available health monitors remains limited due to the handful of locations on or near the body on which they can be placed, and restricted to a small selection of applications. In the future, if advanced fabrics can be developed, wearable electronic devices integrated into shirts, pants, underwear and hats will be able to track indicators of frailty to assess risk of age-related disease, monitor cortisol levels to track stress levels, or even detect pathogens as part of a global pandemic monitoring network. To take wearable electronics to this next level, monitors will have to be integrated into textiles in a way that is lightweight, unobtrusive and less cumbersome.
Researchers develop GO-based injectable bioelectrodes with tunable degradability
Researchers from Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) and Chonnam National University Medical School have developed graphene-based conductive hydrogel electrodes that offer convenience of use, controllable degradation, and excellent signal transmission.
Implantable bioelectrodes are electronic devices that can monitor or stimulate biological activity by transmitting signals to and from living biological systems. Such devices can be fabricated using various materials and techniques. But, because of their intimate contact and interactions with living tissues, selection of the right material for performance and biocompatibility is crucial. Conductible hydrogels are attracting great attention as bioelectrode materials owing to their flexibility, compatibility, and excellent interaction ability. However, the absence of injectability and degradability in conventional conductive hydrogels limits their convenience of use and performance in biological systems. The researchers' new graphene-based conductive hydrogels possess injectability and tunable degradability, furthering the design and development of advanced bioelectrodes.
