Graphene for Automotive - Page 11

In April 2018, researchers at the India-based Uttarakhand Residential University, RI Instruments and Innovationin developed a graphene-based technology to prevent vehicles from operating if the driver is drunk. Now, the same team produced a prototype that will be based on graphene generated from waste products and wild grasses as one of the components.

Graphene has an important role in the device as graphene-coated electrodes can catalyze the process of oxidation of ethyl alcohol into acetic acid. The concentration of alcohol will automatically disconnect the device, the team explained. The driver, while at the driving seat, has to blow the graphene sensor on the device to start the vehicle. This will immediately activate the sensor that will analyze and estimate the liquor content present in the blood of the driver.

Directa Plus announced the start of a trial of re-surfacing a section of a UK road in Curbridge, Oxfordshire with materials containing its G+ graphene substance. The trial will be in collaboration with Skanska, the leading Sweden-based project development and construction group. Directa Plus partnered with Iterchimica, an Italy-based leader in products that enhance asphalt performance, to carry out the trial.

For the trial, the companies will refurbish the two upper layers of a 750m-long section of road, comparing asphalt concrete containing the graphene super modifier. New technologies such as the super modifier had the potential to vastly improve the quality of road surfaces throughout Europe and the wider world, according to Directa Plus.

The Tata group is a global enterprise, headquartered in India, comprising over 100 independent operating companies. Tata Steel, the flagship company of the Tata group, is a Fortune 500 Company with immense global reach. TV Narendran, Managing Director of Tata Steel, provided updates on the Company's graphene R&D business.

Tata Steel is working with graphene as part of its plan of focusing on developing advanced material to protect its margin and bottom line. Its Graphene Development Center has recently produced corrosion-resistant graphene paint and supplied graphene powder to renowned tyre companies. It has also demonstrated the potential of graphene inks, which are used in the printing of train tickets, plane boarding passes, and RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags.

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.

Versarien, UK-based advanced materials engineering group, has announced that it has secured its first graphene orders from the North American corporate research and development center of a Japanese headquartered company. This customer was described as a global automotive components company that has operations in over 40 countries, employing in excess of 250,000 people.

After initial graphene quality testing trials, the Customer has placed development orders for 1kg each of Versarien's high purity graphene nano platelets ("GNP-HP") and Nanene. The Customer's principle operations focus on leading-edge automotive materials and process development, and the development of next-generation, vehicle-related, information and communications technology.

Haydale has announced that its graphene-enhanced prepreg has been incorporated in the composite tooling and automotive body panels in the new BAC Mono R, which made its debut at Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Briggs Automotive Company (BAC), working alongside both Haydale and Pentaxia, built the light-weight BAC Mono R body using Haydale’s graphene-enhanced carbon composite materials, in work that started back in 2016. In October 2018, Haydale announced that it has been awarded a research and development grant from the Niche Vehicle Network to develop graphene-enhanced composite tooling and graphene-enhanced automotive body panels.

Highways England, a government responsible for motorways and major A roads, has partnered with the Graphene Engineering Innovation Center (GEIC), in order to use graphene to address challenges experienced by the road network in England, such as the deterioration of surfaces. Highways England believes adding graphene into maintenance and renewals operations has the potential to extend asset life and make the network perform at an industry changing level.

The partnership will explore the operational and road user benefit of incorporating graphene into assets such as road surfacing and road markings, as well as help to drive the development of a low carbon and digital road network.

The Graphene Flagship has announced a call out for new industrial partners to bring specific industrial and technology transfer competences or capabilities that complement the present GF consortium in the next core project (Core 3).

The Graphene Flagship is looking for companies with specific expertise - for example MRAM tools developers to leverage solutions for graphene-spintronic stacks, developers of graphene related materials based laser systems and instrumentations for coherent Raman imaging, makers of graphene-based fibers, yarns and textiles, automotive companies with expertise in fuel-cells, industrial graphene-based supercapacitors makers and more.

Reports out of China state that Chinese authorities have audited and approved research by Linglong Tire into the "large-scare application" of graphene rubber composites in tires".

The research was conducted jointly by Beijing Tiancheng Linglong Tire, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Linglong Tire, and Beijing University of Chemical Technology. An audit was conducted by Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission along with other Chinese technology institutes.

James Briggs has announced the successful completion of its graphene products' first production batch, which is seen as a significant milestone on the path to commercial realization. James Briggs has been working with Applied Graphene Materials on the development of graphene-based anti-corrosive coatings.

Extensive testing has demonstrated repeated and outstanding improvements in anti-corrosion performance for their automotive aerosol primer. JBL plans to launch the new range of graphene enhanced anti-corrosion aerosols under their brand Hycote .