Graphene: one atom thick material with exciting potential!

Nokomis has been awarded a Department of Energy (DOE) Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I grant for “Graphene as a Coating Material for High-Power RF Windows.”

Nokomis will develop an innovative RF window coating structure based on Graphene. The new coating will enhance the quality of data collection and lower bottom line project costs. Beyond that, the applications for this technology includes a wide range of defense, space, energy, communications, medical, research, and security applications that will benefit from improved window performance and reliability.

Trinity College Dublin Jonathan Coleman been awarded a European Research Commission (ERC) Starter Grant of €1.5 million. This will go towards his research of splitting graphite into graphene layers.

Two of the materials that Prof Coleman is currently researching are Bismuth Telluride and Molybdenum Disulfide. Bismuth Telluride is used to generate energy from waste heat, for example from car engines or nuclear plants etc. Professor Colemans method of separating graphene using a liquid process could be applied to bismuth telluride, which could then be coated onto thin film substrates and attached to the side of a moving car or a nuclear plant to capture the lost heat energy and convert it into usable electrical energy.

via TechCentral.ie

A team of scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory were able to create magnetic fields (over 300 tesla) by straining graphene in a certain way. (so far, magnetic fields in excess of 85 tesla were practically impossible to come across in a laboratory setting).

via Engadget

Researchers from Shanghai University has developed two water-based dispersible graphene derivatives that can effectively inhibit the growth of E.coli and have minimal toxic effects on harming cells (cytotoxicity). The two derivatives are based on graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO).

The group tested the antibacterial properties of the GO sheets with E.coli DH5 cells via a luciferase-based ATP assay kit. After two hours incubation with the GO sheets of 20 µg/mL at 37C, the cell metabolic activity of the bacteria fell to around 70 per cent. With a GO concentration of 85 µg/mL, the activity of the E.coli cells fell to just 13 per cent – “suggesting a strong inhibition ability of GO nanosheets to E.coli,” said the researchers.

Vorbeck MaterialsVorbeck Materials Corp will collaborate with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in a R&D agreement (CRADA) to develop Li-ion battery electrodes using Vorbeck's unique graphene material, Vor-x(TM). These new battery materials could enable electronic devices and power tools that recharge in minutes rather than hours or function as part of a hybrid battery system to extend the range of electric vehicles.

PNNL has demonstrated that small quantities of high-quality graphene can dramatically improve the power and cycling stability of Li-ion batteries, while maintaining high-energy storage capacities. This advance can lead to batteries that both store large amounts of energy and recharge quickly.

Korean researchers have made a new type of composite material made from reduced graphene oxide and magnetite that could effectively remove arsenic from drinking water. Arsenic is one of the most carcinogenic elements known and its presence in drinking water is a huge problem in many areas of South Asia and the western United States. Arsenic is usually removed using bare magnetite, but adding graphene makes it much more efficient.

The new magnetite composite was used to remove over 99.9% of arsenic in a sample. The composite can be dispersed in water, and then removed after it has absorbed the arsenic (by using a permanent hand-held magnet).