Researchesr from Korea's Ulsan, KAIST and ETRI institutes developed a process that produces flexible transparent graphene electrodes that can be attached to the skin (or any kind of delicate object). This could enable applications such as electronic tattoo-like stickers or bio-signal sensors.

A graphene metal fiber composite ise used, which lowers the resistance of the transparent electrode to approximately 1/20th of existing ones. This enables the electrodes to be used in flexible displays or sensors. The new process is similar to a widely-used semiconductor process which means that this can be scaled commercially.

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) developed a new shock absorbor made from graphene foam. The foam's load bearing capacity is very high, and when combined with PDMS it is very flexible and has an even higher load-bearing capacity - in fact six times higher than the bare graphene foam. The researchers say this can be used for mobile devices.

The GF-PDMS composite is reusable - it can withstand several cycles of operation without deformation. The material also features excellent thermal and electrical conductivity. The GF-PDMS is very light - its density is only 0.54 grams per cubic cm (iron has a density of 7.87 g/cm³, for example).

Haydale ordered two new plasma reactors from Tantec, and should receive those new reactors in December 2014. This will allow Haydale to increase graphene production capacity and increase operational flexibility.

Haydale and Tantec also signed a two-year contract to continue to develop the functionalization process to meet specific needs of customers. A couple of months ago Haydale published a research showing how graphene functionalised resins offer a significant improvement in strength.

Researchers at the University of Manchester developed a new coating made from graphene-oxide that can be used to enable ultra-strong non-corrosive coating paints, hermetic food packaging and even a good substrate for flexible electronics.

The researchers developed the graphene-oxide coating by taking graphene-oxide and treating it with a "simple chemical treatment". The resulting film behaves like graphite in terms of chemical and thermal stability but becomes mechanically nearly as tough as graphene.

Researchers from Lawrence Livermore (LLNL) developed new supercapacitor electrodes made from modified graphene aerogels. Those electrodes feature high surface area, good electrical conductivity, chemical inertness and long-term cycling stability.

The researchers report that the graphene aerogel can improve the performance of commercial carbon-based (carbon black and binder materials) supercapacitor electrodes by more than 100%. The graphene aerogel electrodes have better density and pore size distribution, and increased conductivity.

Electrochromic displays are made from materials in which the transmittance of light to be adjusted by applying a voltage. These work similarly to LCDs by letting light from a backlighting unit (BLU) pass or not and so show desired images. These kind of displays haven't been commercialized successfully yet due to fragile materials and material mismatches with the electrodes.

But this may change now, thanks to graphene. Researchers at Bilkent University developed a graphene electrochromic device that demonstrated 55% modulation and a broad spectral response. Both the electrode and the electrochromic device are made from graphene, and this enables a high percentage optical modulation, optical tuning properties in the UV to infrared, good electrical conductivity with no material mismatches. The display is mechanically flexible.

Elcora Resources, a Canadian graphite mining company (with a 40% equity stake in a Sri Lanka based graphite mine) announced plans to become a vertically-integrated carbon company, from graphite mining to graphene production. Elcora will also changes its name to the Graphene Corporation.

The company hopes that controlling all the steps from graphite mining to final graphene production will enable it to optimize the conversion of the processed graphite to bulk, top-down, single or few layered graphene. The company is currently testing several graphene production methods and will soon (before the end of 2014) choose one and scale it up to a "market supportable production rate".

Strategic Energy Resources (SER) signed a jointly-funded research agreement with Monash Universtiy to develop a bench-scale facility for graphene production. Monash and Graphitech (SER's wholly owned subsidiary) will fund this project, with Monash contributing $100,000.

SER expects that they will start the setup in November 2014, and it will take about 3 months to fully set-up and test it. Graphitech will retain ownership of the facility, with Monash responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the facility. Initial batches of graphene production will be in the range of 1 kilogram to 2 kilogram per day.

Graphene Nanochem entered into a product development and collaboration agreement with Sync R&D - for the development of a next-gen graphene-enhanced Li-Ion battery solution for electric buses, under the Electric Bus 1 Malaysia program.

Under the agreement, Graphene NanoChem and Sync R&D will develop and integrate a graphene-enhanced Li-on Battery into a prototype electric shuttle bus in Malaysia. Sync R&D will design and develop the shuttle bus while Graphene NanoChem will design and produce the battery.

Graphenea has opened a branch in the USA to assist more immediate service of the company's North American customers. The US branch, Graphenea Inc, is based in Cambridge (Boston), MA, due to the close relation that the company has with research giants Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard. Apart from developing collaborative projects with those two partners, and acting as a sales outpost for its renown high-quality graphene, Graphenea Inc will set up an Applications Laboratory to help develop custom graphene materials.

The US outpost of Graphenea will continue and enhance the research excellence of the company, with planned hirings of full time R&D and Business Development personnel, says Jesus de la Fuente, CEO of Graphenea. The most pronounced application directions that we will pursue will be advanced polymers, thermal interface materials, energy storage, and (bio)sensors.