Last month MSI revealed that it is utilizing graphene composites in its RTX 3000 series GPUs. The new graphic cards are now shipping globally (the cost in the US is $1,699).
MSI uses a graphene composite material as the backplate of the GPU, which is traditionally made of plastic. MSI says that the graphene composite is 4X stronger than its previous plastic backplate, and offers much higher (20X) heat dissipation performance.
After announcing its plan (In May 2020) to mass produce graphene-enhanced battery for EVs by the end of 2020, and setting up a unit that specializes in graphene and has begun research and development of fast-charging technology for electric vehicles in September 2020, GAC has now stated that it expects to test its battery in production vehicles by the end of this year, however - whether it can eventually be put into mass production will have to await the results of real-vehicle testing.
According to GAC's claim, the graphene "super-fast-charging battery" can be recharged to 85 percent in just eight minutes. If this proves to be true, the charging time will be comparable to the refueling time of traditional fuel cars, which by itself will be great news for the EV market.
Versarien
has announced that it has been awarded a product development agreement for £1.95 million (around USD$2.6 million) by the Defense, Science and Technology Laboratory, a part of the Ministry of Defense. DSTL is responsible for ensuring that innovative science and technology contribute to the defense and security of the UK.
The Agreement is to develop graphene-loaded polymer composites for certain defense related applications, the details of which were not disclosed.
Directa Plus, which has recently signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with lithium sulphur batteries company NexTech Batteries, has announced that using its G+ pristine graphene nanoplatelets, NexTech managed to achieve more than 400 watt-hours per kilogram in a practical system, "the holy grail" for many battery applications.
NexTech produced several prototypes using its proprietary cathode and electrolyte materials producing 410Wh/kg of specific energy at a weight only slightly below 30 grams. For comparison, standard lithium-ion batteries have an energy density of 100-265 Wh/kg.
A team of researchers from Tohoku University, Okayama University of Science, University of Tsukuba, Osaka University and The University of Tokyo in Japan, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, has amplified 3D graphene's electrical properties by controlling its curvature.
"Our research showed the conservation and the degradation of the ultra-low dissipative transport of Dirac electrons on the 3D curved surface for the first time," said Yoichi Tanabe, leading author of the study.
A new project was recently launched under the name of GraphCAT, an initiative to create an ecosystem of research centers focused in the study of graphene. The project received funding from the Government of Catalonia and the European Union.
The ultimate vision of the GraphCAT Community is to establish Catalonia as an international hub for graphene research, development and innovation, with multiple local industries deriving strong competitive advantage in the global marketplace through the integration of proprietary graphene technologies into their products and services.
Researchers led by Northwestern University engineers and Argonne National Laboratory scientists have reached new findings regarding the role of ionic interaction within graphene and water. Their insights could open the door to the design of new energy-efficient electrodes for batteries or provide the backbone ionic materials for neuromorphic computing applications.
"Every time you have interactions with ions in matter, the medium is very important. Water plays a vital role in mediating interactions between ions, molecules, and interfaces, which lead to a variety of natural and technological processes," said Monica Olvera de La Cruz, Lawyer Taylor Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, who led the research. "Yet, there is much we don't understand about how water-mediated interactions are influenced by nanoconfinement at the nanoscale."