Graphene Oxide: Introduction and Market News - Page 28

The University of Granada in Spain has launched the Graphene and 2D Semiconductors Laboratory, said to be one of the most complete public laboratories devoted to the manufacture and electric and structural characterization of graphene in Europe. This laboratory is supposedly comparable to that of the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) or the one in the University of Stanford (United States).

The new facilities are located in the UGR Research Centre for Information Technology and Communication. With an investment of more than half a million euros, the new laboratory is devoted to the manufacture of all kinds and forms of graphene as well as the development of new graphene-based systems for electronic applications which include biosensors, electronic nanodevices for IoT (Internet of Things) applications, and flexible electronics, in addition to wearable devices.

Researchers at Rice University and the State University of Campinas in Brazil have found that random molecules scattered within layers of otherwise pristine graphene affect how the layers interact with each other under strain. The researchers, with flexible electronics in mind, decided to see how graphene oxide paper would handle shear strain, in which the sheets are pulled by the ends. Such knowledge is important for applications involving novel advanced materials, especially for making 3D structures from 2D materials, and some applications may include sensors, electronics and biomedical devices. 

Researchers at the Korean Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have developed a highly heat-resistant and high-strength resin based on chemical graphene oxide processing and mixing with universal epoxy. The new material is expected to contribute to the production of lightweight aircraft and rockets.

An epoxy resin is a material that stabilizes the structures of carbon composite materials.The institute found that multiple amine groups present around graphene oxides bond with epoxy resins to result in a number of cross-linked bonds and a 240% improvement in cross-linking density.

Scientists at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) are working on creating graphene-based hypersensitive sensors for precise analyses and pre-clinical drug research. While using bio-sensor chips to gather information on the effectiveness and toxicity of future medicine is not a new concept, the researchers in this study have managed to significantly improve the technology.

The researchers substituted the connecting layers in existing chips with a thin film made of graphene plates, which helps increase the precision of the analysis of biochemical reactions almost threefold. It is expected that in some cases the improvement might be 10 or even 100-fold. Substances react to graphene even in minimal concentration, while with hydrogel and sulfur-containing molecules no reaction would be expected. Scientists say that using this method will reduce the time needed for conducting analyses from days to minutes.

An international team of researchers conducted a study that suggests that dental fillings made of graphene oxide could be much more durable than those based on metals or ceramic materials.

Graphene offers both exceptional strength and resistance against corrosion, which could greatly improve current fillings that tend to corrode or break. The researchers attempted to add graphene into dental materials, in order to increase their resistance to corrosion as well as to improve their mechanical properties.

Garmor, the University of Central Florida spin-off formed to develop a new graphene oxide flakes production process, has developed graphene oxide-based coatings useful for limiting UV radiation damage to sensors and polymers. Garmor’s transparent GO-films are reprtedly derived from a commercially-viable and scalable process that can be readily implemented with minimal constraints.

Four layers of GO coating on polycarbonate

One of the most promising applications for this material is for coating plastics and polymers susceptible to UV degradation. While a single-layer GO-film maintains greater than 96% transparency in the visible spectrum, the GO-film significantly reduces the transmission of UV radiation below 360nm. Such a film could prove quite beneficial for coating a variety of products including polycarbonate automotive products, photovoltaic panels, and skylights. Transparent GO-films have great potential for use as sensors thanks, in part, to its low resistivity and UV protective coating application. Applications include use as a defogger element, integrated antenna, UV protective element in a windshield, and visor use in a disposable sensor.

In June 2014, we reported that Bora Bora Resources agreed to acquire up to 40% in Sri Lanka's RS Mines - a graphite miner and graphene oxide producer. Today RS Mines told us that that agreement was terminated (by RS Mines).

RS Mines plans to list on the Australian Stock Exchange directly (via a new company called Global Graphene Technologies). The listing will facilitate the development of the graphite resource (the Queen's Mine) in Sri Lanka - and also to initiate several graphene and graphite-related subsidiaries - mainly in the fields of energy storage devices and GO production.

Scientists at Donghua University in China have found a way to cause tiny (0.8 to 6 centimeter) graphene oxide-based objects to move in specific ways using heat and infrared light. The work was inspired by origami, an art form based on folding paper.

In this work, traditional paper was replaced with two types of graphene sheets infused with hydrogen and oxygen compounds, resulting in graphene oxide and graphene oxide-polydopamine. The former does not react to water but the second does. To create origami type structures, the team infused the latter with water molecules than bonded the two types of sheets together—when heat or light was applied to the second type, it would cause the water molecules to be released, making the paper shrink slightly, which in turn would exert a force that would pull against the second type of sheet. This allowed for the creation of hinges or joints which could be employed on command, which made the objects programmable in a sense.

A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has developed a graphene oxides-based sensor that can detect nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the atmosphere. The sensor can detect as little as a single NO2 molecule among millions of other molecules and it works even at room temperatures, unlike other common nitrogen sensors that are known to be high temperature devices.

For the development of this sensor, the team used fibre bragg grating, an optical fibre similar to the ones used for communication purposes. However, it can reflect one particular wavelength of light and transmit others. The IISc team covered the fibre bragg grating with an ultra thin layer of reduced graphene oxide and developed the sensor. by modifying the optical fibre, the scientists were able to use it in different applications like gas sensing and bio-sensing.

A team of scientists from the Aristotle University, Greece, have shown that graphene can be used to remove drugs that current wastewater treatment techniques cannot seem to handle. Various pharmaceuticals find its way into wastewater and even reach drinking water, and can potentially have negative affects on people, wildlife and the environment.