Graphene-Info: the graphene experts

Graphene Leaders Canada has launched its GLC+ Water Technologies Platform, which according to the Company "offers a solution to water pollution and remediation and is based on years of expertise in graphene solutions work with a keen focus in water filtration".

The material has been developed as a loose granular adsorbent that can be integrated into existing filtration systems and can be tailored to remove numerous types of contaminants in water. The GLC+ material offers a highly versatile and cost-effective bolt-on solution with the material having the ability to be regenerated for numerous uses.

Rice University scientists have developed a graphene-based epoxy for electronic applications. Epoxy combined with graphene foam invented in the Rice lab of Prof. James Tour) is reportedly substantially tougher than pure epoxy and far more conductive than other epoxy composites, while retaining the material's low density. It could improve upon epoxies in current use that weaken the material's structure with the addition of conductive fillers.

By itself, epoxy is an insulator, and is commonly used in coatings, adhesives, electronics, industrial tooling and structural composites. Metal or carbon fillers are often added for applications where conductivity is desired, like electromagnetic shielding. The trade-off, however, is that more filler brings better conductivity at the cost of weight and compressive strength, and the composite becomes harder to process. The Rice solution replaces metal or carbon powders with a 3D foam made of nanoscale sheets of graphene.

Grafoid and Stria Lithium have announced the successful co-development of an innovative graphene-based filtration membrane to separate Magnesium and Calcium from salars. Developed in concert with Grafoid Inc. – a related company sharing common directors and an active partner in the 2GL Green Energy Technology Strategic Alliance – this filtration membrane functions as a precursor that promotes efficiencies within the conventional process of recovering Lithium from Salts.

The Companies explain that the key method of recovering commercial lithium has remained the same for over half a century: by evaporating brines collected from salars and salt lakes in evaporation ponds. However, this method is time consuming and can take a year or more - leading to large amounts of salt waste. In addition, Magnesium and Calcium are also present and form impurities that must be refined out in the process. With the demand for lithium outpacing the recovery rate of lithium from brine – faster and more efficient methods of recovery will be critical to supply the growing demand.

Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, will be presenting a paper focused on CMOS-compatible graphene interconnects next month at the world-renowned semiconductor-technology conference - the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (Dec. 1-5 in San Francisco).

The team has shown that integrating graphene into the interconnect scheme holds the promise of increasing performance and limiting power consumption in next-generation CMOS ICs, as graphene offers high conductivity and is not prone to electromigration.

Graphenea recently launched a graphene foundry service – GFAB. The company will manufacture custom circuit designs on graphene wafers up to 6”. The service is aimed at enabling fast device prototyping and accelerating development of new applications, lowering entry barriers to graphene-based solutions.

Graphenea states that in view of the market demands, the offer now includes small batch sizes (1-3 wafers). Lithography masks can be manufactured by Graphenea or provided by the customer. GFAB includes graphene growth, transfer on 4” and 6” wafers, metal contact deposition and lift-off, and graphene lithography with etching.

Haydale has announced the signing of a Joint Development Agreement ("JDA") between Haydale Technologies (Thailand) Limited ("HTT") and Thailand's Star RFID ("Star"). The JDA is for the parties to quickly co-develop both graphene and silver-based inks for the printed Radio Frequency Identification market ("RFID"). The co-development is expected to lead to a supply and collaboration agreement in the coming months.

The parties have already commenced development of a dedicated silver ink for Star and have a small paid-for project to carry out this work. Star has first right of refusal for any products arising from the JDA.

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have set out to tackle the issue of a lack of graphene production standards, which leads to many cases of poor quality graphene from suppliers. The team developed a systematic and reliable method for establishing the quality of graphene samples from around the world. They were able to achieve this by using a wide range of analytical techniques and tested samples from many suppliers.

Upon analyzing samples from over 60 different providers from the Americas, Asia, and Europe, the NUS team discovered that the majority contained less than 10% of what can be considered graphene flakes. The bulk of the samples was graphite powder that was not exfoliated properly.