Graphene-Info: the graphene experts

Ski equipment maker Folsom is launching new graphene-enhanced custom skis. Folsom is collaborating with MITO Materials, to add the graphene into Folsom Custom Skis resin. The graphene is said to increase performance, reduce weight and improve the product's toughness and endurance.

Towards the end of 2020, Folsom produced three custom skis, that adopt the new graphene-enhanced resin. These skis were tested throughout the season, and Folsom said there are "notable improvements in the flex, dampening, and structural properties that you could quantify in the lab and on the slopes". Folsom will start offering graphene-enhanced skis in its next generation 2021 line, which will start shipping in September 2021.

Australia-based battery case developer Vaulta has been awarded a Federal Government grant to commercialize its battery casings for the electric vehicle market.

Vaulta received a grant of AUD$297,500 (around USD$219,000) from the Federal Government’s Accelerating Commercialization grants program to commercialize its low-cost and light-weight graphene-enhanced battery modules.

Researchers at MIT and Harvard University have previously found that graphene can have exotic properties when situated at a 'magic angle'. Now, a new study by some of the members of the same team shows that this material could also be a "spin-triplet" superconductor – one that isn't affected by high magnetic fields – which potentially makes it even more useful.

"The value of this experiment is what it teaches us about fundamental superconductivity, about how materials can behave, so that with those lessons learned, we can try to design principles for other materials which would be easier to manufacture, that could perhaps give you better superconductivity," says physicist Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Gigabyte launched a new graphic cards that uses a graphene lubricant that is said to extend the lifetime of the fan by 2.1 times, almost like a double ball bearing design - and it also makes the fab quieter compared to the company's designs that do not use graphene.

The GeForce RTX 3070 EAGLE OC 8G rev 2.0 features Nvidia's RTX 3070 GPU clocked at 1725 Mhz, with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. It is now shipping at $1,199.

Versarien has executed the use of its graphene-enhanced concrete - this time in a residential setting. The Company poured its product for a property development company at a site in Symonds Yat. This follows the former announcenemt back in May, when the world's first graphene concrete slab was poured for commercial use at Amesbury's Solstice Park for a gym owned and run by military veterans.

Neill Ricketts, Versarien CEO, said: "We're laying a relatively small concrete slab at Symonds Yat as a forerunner for some much bigger projects."

Health Canada recently decided that the sale of certain graphene-enhanced face masks that were considered a hazard due to their graphene content can resume, after the agency assessed the masks and found "no health risks of concern."

Health Canada issued an advisory in April asking all distributors selling masks with graphene or biomass graphene to recall their products over potential inhalation risks after preliminary assessments made the agency fear a potential for inhaled graphene particles to cause lung effects, such as inflammation, in animals. These concerns made somewhat of an impact with consumers and producers alike, and various graphene-enhanced face masks responded to these claims.

Scientists at Tohoku University and colleagues in Japan have developed a mathematical model that abstracts the key effects of changes to the geometries of carbon material and predicts its unique properties.

Scientists generally use mathematical models to predict the properties that might emerge when a material is changed in certain ways. Changing the geometry of three-dimensional (3D) graphene, which is made of networks of carbon atoms, by adding chemicals or introducing topological defects, can improve its catalytic properties, for example. But it has been difficult for scientists to understand why this happens exactly.