Scientists at The University of Manchester in the UK and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany have designed a method to chemically modify small regions of graphene with high precision, leading to extreme miniaturization of chemical and biological sensors which can be used in blood tests, minimizing the amount of blood a patient is required to give.

The team has shown that it is possible to combine graphene with chemical and biological molecules and form patterns. Using technology that resembles writing with a fountain pen, the scientists were able to deliver chemical droplets to the surface of graphene in very small volumes. In order to achieve extremely fine chemical patterns, the researchers used droplets of chemicals less than 100 attolitres (10-16 L) in volume - that’s 1/10,000,000,000,000,000th of a liter!

Researchers from the Chinese Nanjing University have reportedly developed a graphene oxide-based solar desalination system that does not require a solar concentrator or thermal insulation. Featuring a confined 2D water channel, the system is able to achieve high levels of solar absorption and effective desalination.

The research team stated that it used a graphene oxide film as the basis for a device. The graphene oxide film is said to be foldable and produced using a scalable process. With this at the core of the system, the researchers believe that the development represents "a concrete step for solar desalination to emerge as a complementary portable and personalized clean water solution".

San Diego-based Nanomedical Diagnostics, established in late 2013 to develop cutting-edge diagnostics equipment, recently started shipping its graphene-based sensors and the AGILE R100 system which allows for real-time detection of small molecules - with no lower size limit. Nanomedical's graphene-based sensors enable faster sample processing, greater accuracy, portability and cost savings.

The company's CEO, Ross Bundy, was kind enough to explain the company's technology and business to us.

Researchers at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and KAIST have designed a graphene synthesis mechanism using laser-induced solid-state phase separation of single-crystal silicon carbide (SiC). According to the scientists, the laser material interaction technology can be a powerful tool for the next generation of 2D materials.

Using molecular dynamic simulations and high resolution microscope images, the researchers discovered that a single-pulse irradiation of xenon chloride excimer laser of 30 nanoseconds melts SiC, causing the separation of a liquid SiC layer, a disordered carbon layer with graphitic domains (approximately 2.5 nm thick) on the top surface and a polycrystalline silicon layer (roughly 5 nm) below the carbon layer. The sublimation of the separated silicon is caused when additional pulses are given, while the disordered carbon layer is changed into a multilayer graphene.

Resistive RAM (RRAM) is a promising new next-generation memory technology that is being commercialized by several companies. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have been study a device failure caused by two processes in cation-based RRAM, and have discovered that graphene may hold the key.

If a single-layer graphene is added to the device, and used as an ion barrier between two metallic layers in the device, the RRAM cell is more reliable while still maintaining high performance.