Graphene-Info: the graphene experts

Graphene Flagship partners the University of Bologna, Politecnico di Milano, CNR, NEST, Italcementi HeidelbergCement Group, the Israel Institute of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, and the University of Cambridge have developed a graphene-titania photocatalyst that degrades up to 70% more atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NOx) than standard titania nanoparticles in tests on real pollutants.

To address the problem of atmospheric pollution, researchers worldwide are on the hunt for new ways to remove pollutants from the atmosphere, and photocatalysts such as titania are a good way to do this. When titania is exposed to sunlight, it degrades nitrogen oxides – which are very harmful to human health – and volatile organic compounds present at the surface, oxidizing them into inert or harmless products.

Graphenea has announced the launch of a new product – highly flat monolayer graphene. The graphene is grown by CVD on copper thin film on a 2” sapphire substrate. With extremely low roughness that is less than 4 nm, this new product is targeted at applications in photonics, high-performance electronics, magnetic memory, and freestanding membranes.

The product aims to meet wafer-scale integration requirements to build uniform graphene devices in a fashion compatible with current industrial fabrication methods. The flat graphene product is ready to be transferred by electrochemical delamination or dry methods since the sapphire substrate is robust enough to withstand mechanical damage, preventing tearing and wrinkling of the thin Cu sheet. The total wafer thickness is 430 micrometers. Full product information can be found in Graphenea's online store.

The NanoEDGE BMBF-Project, coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT, aims at the development of a graphene-based ink for inkjet printing and a scalable printing process as well as a resource-efficient process chain for the production of electrodes for direct skin contact.

Printed test electrodes in the NanoEDGE project

The development of a graphene-based ink is based on a commercial graphene ink. Ink modification was necessary to make it printable. Ethanol is added to avoid bubbles and to decrease the surface tension of the ink. Carbon nanoparticles are added to improve abrasion resistance of printed structures. A surfactant is added to improve printability and to increase the conductivity and surface smoothness of printed structures.

Directa Plus has announced the completion of a planned acquisition of a 51% stake in Setcar, which would be renamed Directa Environmental Solutions.

"Setcar has been a business partner for a number of years and we are pleased that it is now part of the Directa Plus group" said founder and chief executive Giulio Cesareo.

Advanced materials company Versarien recently shared that it has signed a commercial partnership agreement with textile-sector company MAS Innovation. The agreement followed a letter of intent between the parties, which set out their intent to enter into a formal commercial partnership.

The agreement specifies the terms under which the parties would secure commercial orders for garments developed using Versarien's proprietary graphene ink materials. It allowed both parties to finalize additional contractual terms with third party brands.

Archer Materials (formerly Archer Exploration) has reported progressing its graphene-based biosensor technology development by building a first-phase prototype device to test the printing and performance of graphene inks.

The prototype biosensor technology built at the University of Adelaide ARC Graphene Hub

Graphene ink formulations produced from the inventory of Carbon Allotropes, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Archer, have reportedly been successfully printed and tested in a prototype device for biosensing.

Advanced materials group Haydale Graphene recently raised £450,000 (around $580,000 USD) following the issue of new shares.

Haydale said the funds will be used for general working capital purposes. Haydale also noted that it had approximately £2.47m of cash as of 31 October.