February 2011

Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) say that Graphene can be used to create bendable batteries. The researchers developed a graphene-based hybrid electrode and produced a flexible lithium rechargeable battery. The cathode material (V₂O₅) was grown on a graphene sheet using pulsed laser reposition and the anode was lithium-coated graphene.

This battery actually has promising performance compared to non-flexible batteries - higher energy density, power density and better cycle life. The team now works on extending the performance using solid-state or polymer electrolyte. They also believe that this technology can be used not just in batteries but also in solar cells, OLED displays and catalysis.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania developed a new cost-effective method to make Graphene. The new method is said to be scalable for commercialization as it uses readily available materials and manufacturing processes at ambient pressures. The researchers report that the Graphene sheet was one atom thick in 95% of its area.

The team used chemical vapor deposition (CVD) but used smooth copper foil instead of costly custom copper sheets. The team 'electropolished' the foil and this was smooth enough to produce single-layer graphene (in 95% of the area).

Focus Metals plans to form a multi-country (US, Canada and Asia) to develop patents for Graphene applications. They did not disclose who the partners will be, but the joint venture will be based in NYC. The JV will focus on aviation and defense applications.

Focus Metals owns one of the world's highest concentrations of natural flake graphite at its Lac Knife property in Quebec, Canada.

Researchers from the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering and the National University of Singapore have developed an improved design for a Graphene based field-effect transistor (FET). The new device includes an additional silicon dioxide (SiO2) dielectric gate below the graphene layer. This allows for simplified bit writing by providing an additional background source of charge carriers.

The new device can lead the way towards ;grapheneferroelectric FETs to be used for nonvolatile memory. The researchers say that the new design achieved impressive practical results - symmetrical bit writing with a resistance ratio between the two resistance states of over 500% and reproducible nonvolatile switching over 100,000 cycles.

Researchers from the US DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Princeton University found a way to combine Graphene and indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoparticles to create cheaper and more durable fuel cells.

Fuel cells work by chemically breaking down oxygen and hydrogen gases to create an electrical current, producing water and heat in the process. The centerpiece of the fuel cell is the chemical catalyst — usually a metal such as platinum — sitting on a support that is often made of black carbon. A good supporting material spreads the platinum evenly over its surface to maximize the surface area with which it can attack gas molecules and is also electrically conductive.

Physicists from Spain believe that graphene could provide some key insights into the behavior of the Higgs boson. They say that when you compress graphene, it ripples - and this is similar to the symmetry breaking that happened in a blink after the Big Bang. Basically, when graphene responds to being stretched or compressed, the result is similar to what happens when the Higgs field condenses, breaking the symmetry of the universe.

The physicists say that studying the ripple effect could give hints about the Higgs field and the Higgs boson.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee) have developed a way to create a film of Graphene Oxide so it either causes water to bead up and 'run off' or alternatively be spread out in a thin layer. As graphene sheets are transparent, you can put this on your car's windshield and the water will shed so quickly that you won't need wipers. Or you can use it to make ships glide through water very efficiently. Or use it to make water repellent clothes or self cleaning glasses...

The team uses electrophoretic deposition to make Graphene - which is a wet technique that combines an electric field within a liquid medium to create nanoparticle films that can be transferred to another surface. The team found that they could change the manner in which the graphene oxide particles assemble into a film by varying the pH of the liquid medium and the electric voltage used in the process. One pair of settings lay down the particles in a rug arrangement that creates a nearly atomically smooth surface. A different pair of settings causes the particles to clump into tiny bricks forming a bumpy and uneven surface. The researchers determined that the rug surface causes water to spread out in a thin layer, while the brick surface causes water to bead up and run off.

Researchers from Switzerland's EPFL lab discovered that a material called Molybdenite (or MoS2) can be used as an alternative to Silicon - and might be a better than Graphene. Molybdenite is a common mineral - but hasn't been studied for electronics yet.

Molybdenite is a two-dimensional material, very thin and light - and can be used to make transistors, LEDs and solar-cells, according to EPFL Professor Andras Kis.Molybdenite also have an energy gap, unlike Graphene - which is an advantage for electronics.