Graphene-Info: the graphene experts

Mason Graphite has announced that graphene resulting from the patented process owned by Black Swan Graphene and produced by Black Swan’s strategic shareholder Thomas Swan was recently used in the concrete mix poured during the construction of a large residential development in the United Kingdom.

Nationwide Engineering Group, a construction-focused service provider with dedicated integrated companies, has used the graphene-enhanced concrete developed by Concretene, a wholly-owned subsidiary, in a residential development in Salisbury, 150 km west of London, England.

A team of researchers at UNSW has observed a unique phenomenon in graphene oxide (GO). The oxygen atoms in GO are normally attached in a rather chaotic way. At elevated temperatures, however, the oxygen atoms form more organized structures – by themselves. This process of ‘self-organization’ was found to drastically improve various properties of GO – for example, its electrical conductivity.

For years, researchers have been aware that this phenomenon existed, but they could only demonstrate it using computational simulations. The new research, led by Dr. Rakesh Joshi at UNSW, successfully observed it for the first time in real life, using cutting-edge electron microscopy. While common microscopes use light to create a magnified image, electron microscopes use electrons. With this type of microscope, it is possible to observe single atoms, by magnifying what you’re looking at by a factor of 1,000,000.

Graphene Manufacturing Group (GMG) has formalized its support to Queensland University of Technology – Centre for Biomedical Technologies (“CBT”) for the development of Piezo-Supercapacitors for Self-Powered Medical Implants through a pilot project agreement. The Agreement details GMG’s contribution of expertise and graphene for the project.

The initial Industry Engagement Grant entitled “Piezoelectric Supercapacitors for Self-Powered Medical Implants” was awarded to Professor Cameron Brown, Associate Professor Deepak Dubal, Dr. Hong Duc Pham and the Chief Scientific Officer of GMG, Dr. Ashok Kumar Nanjundan.

Iceni Labs, a spin-out from Imperial College London, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore’s 2D Materials (2DM) that will see the companies combine their respective expertise to develop and market graphene-based products for the defense, automotive and aerospace markets in Europe, North America and the Middle East.

Iceni Labs, a spin-out from Imperial College London, aims to exploit the properties of graphene for devices aimed at the defense market. 2DM manufactures graphene as an additive to enhance the properties of many industrial materials. The MoU will explore the potential to use 2DM’s graphene as an industrial additive to enhance the properties of Iceni Labs-developed industrial products including microphones, weapons optics devices and coatings.

Karlsruhe Institute Of Technology (KIT) and Technical University of Darmstadt researchers have developed graphene-enhanced sensors for molecules in the gas phase. The functional principle of this new type of sensors is based on sensitive graphene transistors and tailor-made organometallic coatings. This combination enables selective detection of molecules.

Fabrication of SURMOF/GFET process flow. Image from article

As a prototype, the authors of the new study demonstrated a specific ethanol sensor that, unlike currently available commercial sensors, does not react to other alcohols or moisture.

A team of researchers, led by Klaus Ensslin and Thomas Ihn at the Laboratory for Solid State Physics at ETH Zurich, together with colleagues at the University of Texas in Austin (USA), has observed a novel state in twisted bi-layer graphene. In that state, negatively charged electrons and positively charged (so-called) holes, which are missing electrons in the material, are correlated so strongly with each other that the material no longer conducts electric current.

Image by Peter Rickhaus / ETH Zurich (taken from Nanowerk)

“In conventional experiments, in which graphene layers are twisted by about one degree with respect to each other, the mobility of the electrons is influenced by quantum mechanical tunneling between the layers”, explains Peter Rickhaus, a post-doc and lead author of the study. “In our new experiment, by contrast, we twist two double layers of graphene by more than two degrees relative to each other, so that electrons can essentially no longer tunnel between the double layers.”

A new Swinburne-led startup, SensFit Technologies, has developed a smart shoe with inbuilt sensors, aiming to improve the quality of life of older people through the early detection of dementia, diabetic ulcers and other physical activity issues.

Unique sensor technology takes readings from the soles of the shoes. Image from Swinburne website

The unique technology is based on 87 smart sensors bonded with an innovative graphene ink that is embedded in the soles of a shoe. It was developed by startup co-founders Professor Franz Konstantin Fuss, a medical technologies researcher, and Dr. Nishar Hameed, whose research focuses on developing innovative technologies from advanced composite materials.