Zenyatta Ventures has announced that it will be commencing a new research collaboration with the University of British Columbia (UBC)-Okanagan Campus and the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR, the German Aerospace Center) to investigate the potential use of Albany Graphite for graphene and graphene oxide in new composite materials.
Dr. Lukas Bichler, who will be leading the composite development project, said: UBC researchers have established a partnership with DLR, which seeks to provide unique educational and research opportunities for future engineers. Also, the partners bring together Canadian and European industry partners and allow effective technology transfer and rapid innovation.
Separately, Zenyatta will also be working with UBC on a graphene oxide fuel additive. Research has found that graphene oxide can improve fuel economy by 7.5%, and potentially reduce emissions by 8% while increasing power by 10%. Dr. Sina Kheirkhah, the lead researcher for the fuel additive project, commented: Graphene oxide is a carbon- and oxygen-rich nanomaterial which can potentially increase the combustion rate when added to jet fuel. Graphene-doping also has the potential to boost aircraft propulsive force and increase the power of land-based gas turbines.
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is the national aeronautics and space research center of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its extensive research and development work in aeronautics, space, energy, transport, digitalization and security is integrated into national and international cooperative ventures. In addition to its own research, as Germany’s space agency, DLR has been given responsibility by the federal government for the planning and implementation of the German space program. DLR is also the umbrella organization for one of Germany’s largest project management agencies.