Graphene for Automotive - Page 21

CealTech aims to become a leading global producer of high volume, high quality graphene, ultra-fine graphite and fine graphite. Production will be done by CealTech's independently-developed FORZA 3D graphene production unit (patent pending).

The FORZA prototype unit is currently under development and should be ready for operation by October 2016. CealTech's daily single layer graphene production capabilities starting October 2016 will be 1600m², and are planned to grow to 150,000 m² starting 2020.

Innova Research recently published a survey that states that the Chinese graphene market revenue for 2015 was estimated at $6.1 million, a 335.7% jump from $1.4 million for 2014.

The survey also specifies that significant progress has been made on the adoption of graphene in a number of industrial applications in 2015, namely touch screens, anti-corrosive coating, and lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). These adoptions are the primary reasons for the soaring Chinese graphene market revenue in 2015.

Skeleton Technologies has signed a €3.5 million distribution agreement with French transport tech developer Adgero, that ensures modules from Skeleton Technologies be part of the world’s first Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) for road freight. Under the agreement, Adgero will source SkelMod 160V modules exclusively for the Adgero hybrid system pioneered to increase efficiency for the truck transport industry.

The Adgero KERS system is scheduled to be road tested next month by leading UK transport company, Eddie Stobart, ahead of Adgero’s expected series production this year. The truck company will test the KERS system in a curtainsider trailer – built by one of the largest manufacturers in Europe, SDC Trailers – and unveiled at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham later this month.

Grafoid has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Xiamen Tungsten of Xiamen, China, for the establishment of a strategic joint venture partnership. The agreement establishes terms for Xiamen's acquisition of up to a 20% equity position in Grafoid through the purchase of common shares - including Grafoid common shares currently held by Grafoid's affiliate, Focus Graphite, an advanced Canadian graphite mining exploration and development company.

Focus Graphite currently holds 7.9 million Grafoid shares, and according to the MOU Xiamen can purchase up to 7 million shares from Grafoid. Seems like Focus Graphite does not want to remain a major shareholder in Grafoid - although the two companies are still linked by a 10-year offtake agreement.

Haydale is developing, along with BAC Mono, a graphene-enhanced body panel for BAC's single seat road car. The graphene-enhanced epoxy resin has reportedly delivered increased strength and a "significant weight and cost reduction".

BAC representatives stated that "At BAC we focus heavily on innovation and we were delighted to work with graphene composite industry leaders Haydale on this project. It marks another world first for BAC and the beginning of a project with a broad range of exciting possibilities."

NanoMalaysia, a company under the Malaysian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) set up to promote nanotechnology commercialization activities, has announced that 360 new products will be commercialized according to the government plans, with Malaysia's National Graphene Action Plan (NGAP) 2020 assisting with some of these products. NGAP2020 aims to generate about 9,000 jobs and RM20 billion ($4.86 Billion) GNI impact by the year 2020.

The minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) announced during a recent ceremony that companies have signed memorandums of agreement (MoUs), which will help to build a local graphene ecosystem and speed up downstream adoption. This adoption of graphene will involve downstream graphene-based application development for specialty and consumer products ranging from tyres, automotive components, water pipes and ultra-capacitors.

Haydale's Composite Solutions division (HCS) has announced the launch of three graphene enhanced carbon fibre pre-impregnated (prepreg) products, in collaboration with SHD Composite Materials Ltd (Sleaford, Lincolnshire, UK) using epoxy resins from Huntsman Advanced Materials.

The products to be launched include a structural component carbon fibre prepreg, a prototype Out-of-Autoclave curing carbon fibre tooling prepreg capable of fast composite part production in autoclave processing and a higher operating temperature prepreg for enhanced life and very high accuracy tooling.

Haydale has received £350,000 in research grants from the government, to accelerate the development of new products enhanced by the incorporation of functionalized graphene and other nanomaterials.

The grants are for five project areas:

1. The development of electrically conductive graphene-enhanced adhesives for aircraft structures.
2. The development of multi-functional graphene-enhanced composite materials that are not only capable of detecting the build-up of ice on structures, such as aircraft leading edges and wings, but can then be thermally activated in order to prevent ice build-up.
3. The development of graphene reinforced polyolefin materials for lightweight extruded products such as filaments for nets and filtration.
4. The development of graphene-enhanced epoxy resins with improved durability, wear resistance and thermal cycling performance.
5. The development of graphene-enhanced carbon-carbon composites materials for use in high-performance brake systems.

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and UC Santa Cruz have demonstrated what might be the world's first 3D-printed graphene composite aerogel supercapacitor, using a technique known as direct-ink writing. The researchers suggest that their ultra-lightweight graphene aerogel supercapacitors may open the door to novel designs of highly efficient energy storage systems for smartphones, wearables, implantable devices, electric cars and wireless sensors.

The key factor in developing these novel aerogels is creating an extrudable graphene oxide-based composite ink and modifying the 3D printing method to accommodate aerogel processing. The 3D-printed graphene composite aerogel (3D-GCA) electrodes are lightweight, highly conductive, and exhibit excellent electrochemical properties. Supercapacitors using these 3D-GCA electrodes with thicknesses on the order of millimeters display exceptional capacitive retention (ca. 90% from 0.5 to 10 A·g−1) and power densities (>4 kW·kg−1).

The Spanish Graphenano recently introduced, together with its Chinese partner Chint, graphene polymer batteries that reportedly allow for a range of 800 kilometers in electric vehicles and can be charged in a few minutes. The batteries are meant for domestic use, in the automotive sector (both cars and bicycles), drones or even pacemakers.

The batteries are supposed to be manufactured in Yecla (Murcia), Spain, and the companies hope to have operational prototypes in mid-2016 and commercial batteries at the end of this year. The batteries are said to have a density of 1,000 Wh / kg and a voltage of 2,3V. Independent analyses by TÜV and Dekra show that the batteries are safe and are not prone to explosions like lithium batteries.