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Researhcers from the Politecnico di Milano and the University of Illinois developed a Gigahertz graphene ring oscillator (1.28 GHz). They say that this oscillator appears to be less sensitive to fluctuations in the supply voltage compared to both conventional silicon CMOS and oscillators made from CNTs. And the best carbon nanotube ring oscillator made to date operates at just 50 MHz.

The researchers say that graphene based amplifiers and mixers have already been demonstrated, and now their graphene based oscillators marks the final major analog electronics building block enabled by graphene. 

National Graphite Corporation (NGC) announced that they produced graphite samples from their Chedic/Voltaire Property in Nevada. The grade 7.0% graphite went through ultra-sonic treatment which yielded a powder with "graphene characteristics".

The field sample material was sieved and put into a clean Teflon beaker of de-ionized water. The slurry was sonicated with a Sonics brand Ultrasonic Processor (Model VCF-1500) and then dried. The dried, greasy powder was tested in a laboratory in Nevada and NGC says they are pleased with the results which shows they can convert graphite into a graphene product in a simple and cost-effective process.

The company says they generated $4 million in revenue in 2012. Not all of this are product sales (for example they have a license agreement with Cabot Corporation, signed in 2011) - but it's still impressive considering that Lux Research estimates that the entire graphene market was just $9 million in 2012.

Researchers from Rice University developed new Li-Ion anode material from graphene nanoribbons (GNR) and SnO2 (Tin Oxide). They are combining the Tin-Oxide with the GNRs and they say that batteries made with the new material has double the storage capacity compared to traditional graphite anodes.

Basically to create the new material, the researchers mixed the GNRs with tin oxide particles (about 10 nanometer wide). Using cellulose gum binder and water, they apply the new material to a current collector and place it in Li-ion batteries. In the lab tests, the prototype battery had an initial charge capacity of more than 1520 milliamp hours per gram (mAh/g). After repeated charge-discharge cycles that number began to plateau at about 825 mAh/g.

Researchers from the University of Alberta developed a new low-cost process to turn hemp bast fibers into graphene-like materials that can be used in energy storage electronics.

They use a part of the hemp plant called the bast, which is usually thrown away during industrial hemp production - it's a waste product. It is a nanocomposite made up of layers of lignin, hemicellulose, and crystalline cellulose. If you process it the right way, it separates into sheets similar to graphene.

Researchers from Aalto University in Finland and Utrecht University in the Netherlands managed to create single-atom contacts to connect gold and graphene nanoribbons. In their experiments, they showed how a single chemical bond can be used to make an electrical contact to a graphene nanoribbon.

Using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), the researchers mapped the structure of the graphene nanoribbons and then used voltage pulses from the tip of the scanning tunnelling microscope to form single bonds to the graphene nanoribbons, at a precise, specific location. The electric pulse removed a single hydrogen atom from the end of a graphene nanoribbon and this initiates the bond formation. 

Researchers from the University of Manchester managed to create elementary magnetic moments in graphene and then switch them on and off. This is the first time magnetism itself has been toggled, rather than the magnetization direction being reversed. They say this is a major breakthrough on the way towards graphene based Spintronics transistor-like devices.

The new research shows that electrons in graphene condense around vacancies ("holes" in the graphene sheet created when some carbon atoms are removed) - and create small "electronic cloud". These clouds carry a spin, and the researchers managed to dissipate and then condense back those clouds.