NGI - Page 4

Recent updates see the Sir Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials, a £235 million plan to create a world-leading center for advanced materials research and commercialization, as set to be given the green light. The University of Manchester's intention is to regenerate a 1.4-acre plot off Oxford Road, next to the new £61 million National Graphene Institute, and it was reported that it is set to go before Manchester City Council's planning committee on Thursday, 9 February 2017.

The Sir Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials is envisaged as an international flagship project encompassing nine key areas of materials research, including graphene, and focusing on the themes of energy, engineering, functional and soft materials. The building would feature 172,233 sq ft of educational floorspace and will be supported by satellite centers comprising the universities of Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial College London. It is meant to accommodate around 550 scientists and play a prominent role within the university campus.

A graphene dress was showcased at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. The dress came out of a partnership involving wearable tech pioneers Cute Circuit and the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester.

The dress has, according to its designers, ‘futuristic features including a graphene sensor which tracks the model's breathing, adapting its LED lighting to breathing patterns, and utilizing its translucent graphene circuitry.’ This means that it will change color according to the wearer's breathing rate - glowing purple upon fast breaths while slow and turquoise when breathing slowly.

McLaren, the British racing team/supercar manufacturer, has announced the new RM 50-03 Tourbillon Split Seconds Chronograph Ultralight McLaren F1. The watch's mechanism weighs only 7 grams and the entire watch just 40, with the help of a graphene, titanium and carbon fiber composite.

It was reported that McLaren's Applied Technologies division has been working with the National Graphene Institute on applications for graphene, out of which high-end watchmaker Richard Mille (working in collaboration with McLaren), constructed the three-part case, with the titanium and carbon-fiber movement at its center.

Versarien, the advanced materials group, announced the receipt of a significant graphene order for a carbon fibre composite related OEM application.

Versarien has received an order with a value of over £100,000 (around $124,900 USD) for graphene in the form of Few Layer Graphene Nano Platelets (GNPs) from a European commercial customer, in conjunction with the NGI. This graphene will be certified by the NGI and Versarien will be handling the dispersion of the GNPs into the resin to be used by the customer. The resin will be provided by the customer free of charge and will be returned to the customer in Europe once mixed with Versarien's GNPs.

Update: After speaking with the NGI, it seems that there is no such cooperation taking place. China's Tianjin High-tech Area (THT) will cooperate with Allied Vehicles Group in Scotland, a leading supplier of adapted and special purpose vehicles and the National Institute of Graphene of the Manchester University on the development of graphene-enhanced batteries for new energy vehicles (NEV).

The Tianjin High-tech Area has formed a complete NEV industrial chain over the years, including battery, motor and other component development. The THT is expecting near-future investments and plans to expand in most parts of the industrial chain.

Versarien has announced the successful completion of a grant funded project focused on graphene enhanced carbon fibre composites with the National Graphene Institute (NGI) at The University of Manchester.

Extensive trials of the graphene produced by Versarien’s subsidiary, 2-DTech, by an NGI team, in carbon fibre composite products, has demonstrated the benefit of adding graphene, particularly with regard to significantly enhancing the strength of the structure.

Oxford Instruments announced the launch of a new collaborative project with the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and the National Graphene Institute (NGI), partially funded by the Innovate UK for development of a commercial measurement system for nanotechnology applications.

The proposed turnkey system will be developed at the Oxford's Tubney Woods, UK site. The measurement system will be operating at cryogen free low magnetic fields and will enable primary resistance calibrations with unprecedented accuracies to be used by national metrology laboratories and industrial companies. The system will reduce operational costs, save time and complexity.  

Thomas Swan announced a unique partnership with the National Graphene Institute (NGI) to provide development materials to boost graphene research and commercialization while also increasing early stage research on other 2D materials.

Through the new partnership Thomas Swan will contribute 2D products to support early stage research projects within the NGI and will also support scale-up for prototyping of new technologies. The NGI will provide feedback on the performance of Thomas Swan products and identify opportunities for future improvement.

A trade deal between China and Manchester will aim at graphene-based transportation. Scientists at Manchester University will team up with the Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials in a five-year research project that will aim to build graphene-based aircraft and trains.

The Chinese funding, thought to be worth up to £3 million, will be put into the project that will include joint research as well as the exchange of scientists between Beijing and the university’s National Graphene Institute.

A vehicle made with graphene in its bodywork has recently been unveiled in Manchester. The car was made by Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) and graphene is said to be used in the car's panels. The BAC Mono spearheads an exhibition to highlight the future of graphene technology.

The BAC Mono has reportedly been road-tested and is being displayed at the National Graphene Institute in Manchester as part of the Science in the City festival from July 22-29. James Baker, graphene business director at The University of Manchester, said: "The graphene car is an excellent example of how graphene can be incorporated into existing products to improve performance".