2D materials: introduction and market status

University of California, Berkeley, researchers have found that three carbon structures recently created by scientists in South Korea and Japan are in fact schwarzites, an elusive carbon structure which researchers predict will have unique electrical and storage properties like those of carbon nanotubes and graphene.

The new structures were built inside the pores of zeolites, crystalline forms of silicon dioxide—sand—more commonly used as water softeners in laundry detergents and to catalytically crack petroleum into gasoline. Called zeolite-templated carbons (ZTC), the structures were being investigated for possible interesting properties, though the creators were unaware of their identity as schwarzites, which theoretical chemists have worked on for decades.

Paragraf, a Cambridge University graphene spin-out that focuses on the production of graphene and other 2D materials and the development of devices based on these materials, has announced the closure of a second tranche ‎within its seed funding round.

In September 2017, Paragraf closed a £2.64 million seed round to support the development of its first major products. The round was led by Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialization arm of the University of Cambridge, with the participation of Parkwalk Advisors, Amadeus Capital Partners, IQ Capital Partners, Martlet, the investment arm of Marshall of Cambridge Group, and a small group of angel investors. Now, a second tranche was closed, raising an additional sum of £260,000.