Graphene for Automotive - Page 14

A China-based company named Shenzhen Danbond Technology announced that it had begun mass production trials of a self-developed graphene product.

The product seems to be a highly-conductive film that can be used in electric vehicle batteries, to dissipate heat in electronic devices and in solar power generation and flexible screens, according to the company. It reportedly plans to begin mass production early next year.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have been working replace oil with solid lubricants such as graphene. Argonne’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program supplied the seed money needed to begin experimentation towards that end. This work may have far reaching implications both inside and outside the automobile industry. It could help wind turbines move with greater ease, allowing them to produce more energy. It also can better seal off machinery as it pumps oil or gas from the ground or out at sea.

The graphene-encapsulated diamond ball bearings translate the nanoscale superlubricity into a macroscale phenomenon

Graphene can also be used to better protect ball bearings, which can corrode over time when exposed to water, a process commonly referred to as tribo-corrosion. The Argonne-developed process based on graphene has shown that a few layers of graphene not only reduced friction in steel rubbing against steel by seven times and the wear by 10,000 times but also significantly reduced the tribo-corrosion problem.

Promethient, an early stage U.S-based company that developed graphene-enhanced seat warmer technology, has received a large (though undisclosed) equity investment from Faurecia Ventures, the investment arm of Nanterre, France-based Faurecia, the sixth-largest auto supplier in the world, with a big American presence.

The funding will allow Promethient to ramp up product development and marketing and also provides it with a very large early customer. The investment will also allow Promethient to sell to other auto suppliers and makers.

NanoXplore, manufacturer and supplier of high-volume graphene powder for use in industrial markets, has announced that it acquired Sigma Industries in a deal that included cash and stock components. The cash component is approximately CAD$9 million (around $6.8 million USD) and the stock value is approximately CAD$9.8 million (almost $7.5 million USD).

Sigma Industries is a manufacturing company specializing in the manufacture of composite products, with two operating subsidiaries and 275 employees. It operates in the markets for heavy trucks, buses, public transit, machinery and wind energy. Sigma sells its products to original equipment manufacturers and distributors in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Versarien, the advanced materials engineering group, has provided an update on its activities in relation to graphene-enhanced power storage devices like batteries and supercapacitors. The primary goal of incorporating graphene into these devices, Versarien says, is to significantly increase power storage capacity and reduce charging times.

Versarien has been working with WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group) and their partner companies and scientists at the universities of Warwick and Cambridge to collaborate on the production of power storage devices such as batteries and supercapacitors using Versarien's proprietary Nanene graphene nano platelets. Significant advances have been made through incorporating the Company's high quality graphene into these devices and the Company looks forward to commercial products becoming available in due course.

Australia-based advanced materials company Talga Resources has reported high levels of electrical conductivity in concrete by using an additive developed from the Company’s graphene-graphite research and development laboratory in the UK.

(L) Talga concrete sample after melting 5cm depth of ice from 9v power. (R) Conceptual underfloor heating/road application.

The reported breakthrough offers substantial potential in existing and emerging industrial applications, particularly as concrete is the world’s largest construction material by volume. Talga shared information gathered from tests that show that the graphene-enhanced concrete is highly electrically conductive - attaining 0.05 ohm.cm volume resistivity.

Global Graphene Group (G3), the holding company of Angstron Materials and Nanotek Instruments, has announced G3-Fireshield Technology a suite of next generation battery components to dramatically reduce the risk of fire occurrences in EVs, portable electronics, and a range of other devices.

G3 states that this breakthrough is the first of its kind to overcome the intrinsic flammability problems associated with multiple battery material components. G3 explains that a conventional Li-ion battery is made up of three primary components: a negative electrode, a separator soaked in electrolyte solution, and a positive electrode. At elevated temperatures, brought on by mechanical, electrical or thermal abuse, each of these components undergoes chemical and/or structural changes that release energy from the cell in harmful ways.

Linney Tuning, a UK-based company that specializes in the research and development of innovative performance tuning components and custom calibration solutions, is using bi-layer graphene in the development of brake pads - currently in the development/testing stage. In addition, Linney states that it should have graphene clutch plates in testing by the end of June 2018.

According to the company, these brake pads will:

• ensure quiet, clean braking performance.
• be stronger and with higher density and less resin for quieter, highly reliable braking performance.
• have less resin content in positive dry mix formulations resulting in less fad.

A joint venture between Graphenest and Sipre (a Portuguese kayak manufacturer known for its flatwater, ocean and open water kayaks) produced what is hailed as the lightest surfski kayak in the world. It is 5.75 meters long and weighs around 9.3 kg.

This engineering accomplishment was enabled by substituting the ordinarily used epoxy resin by Graphenest’s HexaBond epoxy resin system for fiber reinforced composites. HexaBond can be applied in any fiber reinforced composites to improve mechanical strength, durability and chemical resistance. Hexabond is able to increase the strength of carbon fiber composites up to 24%, while simultaneously reducing weight by 10%.

Researchers at Sunway University in Malaysia have developed and produced graphene-based lubricants to improve automotive and industrial lubricants. They aim to commercialize their graphene-based nanolubricant 'Infinoil' within the year, which can reduce friction and wear, improving engine efficiency in automotive and industrial applications.

"Wear of engines and machinery continues to be a global concern costing billions annually. Traditional lubricants which use chemical additives have reached the threshold limit in-terms of efficiency. To meet the modern engineering lubrication challenges which primarily deal with nanoscale-friction and thermal performance, we took up nanomaterials to find a solution. Having successfully exploited metallic, metal oxides, graphene and other 2-dimensional materials for heat transfer applications since 2007, our current focus is on heat transfer fluids which also include nanolubricants," said the researchers.