Graphene products: introduction and market status - Page 12

The collaboration between the University of Manchester and British sportswear brand Inov-8, which started in 2017 and has already produced the G-Series range of graphene-enhanced shoes and a pair of hiking boots which utilize graphene, has now expanded even further.

Since launching in 2008, the X-Talon has been Inov-8’s best-selling off-road footwear collection. Now, the brand announced that they have evolved the range with the graphene-enhanced X-Talon G 235.

PC gear company Cryorig has introduced its low-profile CPU graphene-enhanced cooling system for small form-factor PCs that can dissipate up to 125 W. The Cryorig C7 G is among the smallest coolers for higher-end processors available today. To make C7 G's high performance possible, Cryorig applied graphene coating on the heatsink.

As demands arise for higher-performance components, cooling designers are creating low-profile coolers rated for TDP levels of 95 W of higher. To maximize efficiency of such devices, manufacturers use copper for heatsinks, many heat pipes, and large fans. Cryorig decided to go one step further and applied graphene coating to the radiator’s fins. Thermal conductivity of graphene is considerably higher than thermal conductivity of aluminum or copper, so applying it on the fins could theoretically improve cooling performance.

XG Sciences has announced commercial adoption of its products for use in engine oil. HELLA, an innovative family-owned company serving the automotive and industrial markets with revenue of €7 Billion in the fiscal year 2018/2019, completed a successful launch of a new line of engine oil additives incorporating XG Sciences' graphene nanoplatelets to improve performance.

HELLA’s engine oil additive, enhanced with graphene from XG Sciences, is specially formulated to reduce wear and friction in internal combustion engines delivering a range of benefits including extended engine life, reduced engine vibration, improved power output, 50% reduction in engine wear, improved fuel economy and enhanced ride comfort.

Jewel Sanitary Napkins (JSN), a U.S-based company, launched its graphene-enhanced sanitary napkins on June 1^st, 2019. In the several months since then (at the time of writing this article), the Company reportedly made over $600,000 from selling the $6 product.

The sanitary napkins come in four variations: very light panty liners, moderate flow sanitary napkins, heavy flow sanitary napkins and super heavy flow sanitary napkins. The graphene, said by the company to be a proprietary blend, is found in a single strip placed in the center of the pad (pad design can be viewed at jewelpads.com).

Applied Graphene Materials recently added new adhesive materials to their portfolio, aimed at the Space and Defense sectors. These are said to be two unique graphene-enhanced thermally conductive epoxy paste adhesive systems, called AGM TP300 and AGM TP400

These novel epoxy adhesive systems reportedly exhibit high levels of thermal conductivity (between 3 and 6 W/mK), combined with excellent mechanical, adhesive and outgassing performance. Most significantly these properties are achieved with cured resin densities as low as 40% that of competitive conductive adhesives on the market. AGM’s TP 300/400 products are therefore highly versatile, while providing end users with significant savings in both mass and cost.

First Graphene has announced that, together with Steel Blue, it has manufactured prototype sets of safety boots incorporating PureGRAPH10.

The boots were reportedly made last week at Steel Blue’s Malaga WA factory and incorporated PureGRAPH into the safety capped boot TPU soles and polyurethane foam innersole.

Billabong, global maker of surf & snow technical clothing and gear, recently announced its plans to be the first surf brand to go to market with a suit that utilizes graphene. The surfing apparel will be called Furnace Graphene, and is scheduled to appear in Billabong's 2019 fullsuit line.

Graphene-enhanced neoprene to be used in new surfing apparel

The Billabong Furnace Absolute is planned to sport graphene lining on the front and back panels, and be more flexible and easy to use. In addition, it will enjoy flex and thermal retention capabilities. The Company referred to this tech as "an innovative new design where graphene wrapped yarns trap and retain heat more efficiently".

Graphene Flagship partner, Emberion, will be launching a VIS-SWIR graphene photodetector at Laser World of Photonics, from 24 to 27 June in Munich, Germany. The linear array covers a wide spectral range, detecting wavelengths from the visible at 400nm into the shortwave infrared up to 1,800nm. Traditionally, it would require both silicon and InGaAs sensors to image across this wavelength range.

Emberion estimates that replacing a system using silicon and InGaAs sensors with its graphene photodetector would result in a 30% cost reduction.

Italian bicycle tire manufacturer Vittoria Industries recently announced that it is launching a new range of products employing a second generation of its graphene-filler technology. The graphene supplier is assumed to be Perpetuus Carbon, as the two companies signed a long-term supply agreement for graphene materials.

It was said that while the first-generation generally enhanced the performance of tires, the new 2.0 graphene is functionalized to improve specific tire performances, targeting metrics like speed, wet grip, durability and puncture resistance.

In October 2018, Huawei announced its Mate 20 X smartphone, which was a gaming smartphone that adopted a graphene film cooling technology for heat management purposes. Now, Huawei launched the Mate P30 Pro smartphone, that adopts a graphene film as well.

The Mate 20 X was a bit of a niche phone, but the P30 Pro is more mainstream one (even though it is quite expensive at around $1,200). Besides the graphene cooling film, the P30 Pro sports a 6.47" 1080x2340 flexible AMOLED display, an under-the-display fingerprint sensor, a Kirin 980 chipset, 6/8 GB of RAM, 64/128/256/512 GB of storage a Nano Memory card slot and a high-end quad-camera setup.