Graphene for Automotive - Page 22

Researchers at Northwestern University targeted the problem of fuel waste in automobiles due to friction, and tested crumpled graphene balls as a lubricant additive. In a series of tests, oil modified with crumpled graphene balls outperformed some commercial lubricants by 15%, both in terms of reducing friction and the degree of wear on steel surfaces.

Crumpled graphene balls are a novel type of ultrafine particles that resemble crumpled paper balls. The particles are made by drying tiny water droplets with graphene-based sheets inside. The scientists explain that capillary force generated by the evaporation of water crumples the sheets into miniaturized paper balls, just like how we might crumple a piece of paper with our hands.

Sunvault Energy and Edison Power Company announced that it recently conducted a number of tests on its graphene reinforced plastic technology. Sunvault has created a Graphene Reinforced Plastic that is cost effective and with potential uses that could change the landscape of plastics utilization. This revolutionary material can give products increased endurance but with the weight and simplicity of plastic. In addition to the material's many consumer advantages, it also has some protective attributes that are truly impressive.

Two video presentations were made, the first demonstrated the ability of the graphene reinforced plastic to stop a collection of 22 caliber and 45 caliber bullets, before demonstrating in the second video presentation the ability to stop the most commonly faced weapon of aggression in the military: the AK47.

XG Sciences and Boston-Power have announced a joint development agreement, aimed at customizing XG Sciences’ silicon-graphene anode materials for use in Boston-Power’s lithium-ion battery products. 

The plan is to optimize electrochemical and microstructural electrode performance, as well as developing electrode and battery manufacturing techniques using the two companies’ proprietary materials. The companies see a real synergy between Boston-Power’s battery engineering and design capabilities and the new XG-SiG anode materials. Boston-Power has the ability to design and manufacture the battery, while XG Sciences has the ability to customize the anode materials to best fit the Boston-Power system.

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.

An international team of researchers from six countries have designed a highly sensitive gas sensor made from boron-doped graphene, able to detect noxious gas molecules at extremely low concentrations, parts per billion in the case of nitrogen oxides and parts per million for ammonia. These sensors can be used for labs and industries that use ammonia, a highly corrosive health hazard, or to detect nitrogen oxides, a dangerous atmospheric pollutant emitted from automobile tailpipes. In addition to detecting toxic or flammable gases, theoretical work indicates that boron-doped graphene could lead to improved lithium-ion batteries and field-effect transistors. 

The sensor reaches a 27 times greater sensitivity to nitrogen oxides and 10,000 times greater sensitivity to ammonia compared to pristine graphene. The researchers believe these results will open a path to high-performance sensors that can detect trace amounts of many other molecules.

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a hybrid magnetic sensor that is reportedly more sensitive than most commercially available sensors. This could encourage the development of smaller and cheaper sensors for areas like consumer electronics, information and communication technology and automotive, as well as applications like thermal switches, hard drives and magnetic field sensors.

The sensor is made of graphene and boron nitride, and includes layers of carrier-moving channels, each of which can be controlled by the magnetic field. The researchers characterized the sensor by testing it at various temperatures, angles of magnetic field, and with a different pairing material. Graphene-based magnetoresistance sensors hold immense promise over existing sensors due to their stable performance over temperature variation and eliminating the necessity for expensive wafers or temperature correction circuitry. Production cost for graphene is also much lower than silicon and indium antimonide.

Applied Graphene Materials has entered into a joint development agreement with German lubricants and oils business Puralube Germany (which will be shortly changing its name to Puraglobe).

The CRRC, the Chinese state owned rolling stock manufacturer and the world's largest train builder, has developed graphene-based supercapacitors that can power electric buses with higher efficiency and for a longer period.

The CRRC has reportedly produced two types of capacitors, a 2.8 Volt/30,000 F capacitor and 3 Volt/12,000 F one. The former is said to be able to power trolley buses for up to 10 km after a one-minute charge, compared with 6 km in the previous generation. The latter one can provide enough electricity to power a tram for 6 km with only 30 seconds of charging.In addition to improvements in performance, the new products are also more energy-saving and environmentally friendly.

Haydale has been awarded over £450,000 by the government to work on series of research projects. The studies, set to take place over the next 18 months, include several areas of research like a low cost, self-cleaning graphene enhanced coating which could be used to clean and filter swimming pools and waste water, as well as developing resins and coatings for boats and sign posts which emit UV fluorescent dyes under impact.

Skeleton Technologies is to supply graphene-based supercapacitors to Milrem's multipurpose UGV (unmanned ground vehicle) to be showcased at DSEI 2015. Milrem (Military Repair, Engineering and Maintenance) is an Estonian company whose mission is to be a partner in the defence and security sector, offering flexible product development solutions and full life cycle support for heavy vehicles. Milrem is also developing a mobile command post and an unmanned tracked vehicle for military purposes.

Skeleton Technologies' high power cells will be used to deliver energy efficiency and product reliability to the UGV, which can be used for a wide range of defense requirements including reconnaissance and observer missions, targeting weapon systems and providing support solutions such as medical supplies. The universal platform allows operators to optimize their vehicle fleet and reduce life cycle management costs with simplified maintenance and spare supplies.