Innovate UK's (London, UK) Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) has launched a Graphene Special Interest Group that is focused, in part, on commercialization of graphene in composite materials applications.

The purpose of the special interest group is to provide a forum through which graphene suppliers can connect with composites fabricators to work together to integrate graphene into products. There are 80 companies in the Graphene Special Interest Group, a number that will hopefully to grow to 200-250.

Talga Resources has announced the execution of a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with Heidelberg Cement a Germany-based multinational building materials producer and producer of concrete products.

Talga and Heidelberg have entered into the MOU in order to jointly explore business opportunities associated with Talga’s graphite and graphene based materials in carbon enhanced concrete applications for the building and construction sector.

Researchers from Florida State University, Penn State University, Tsinghua University in China and the Institute of Carbon Science and Technology in Japan have come to fascinating conclusions on how to produce pure hydrogen, a green energy fuel by splitting water.

After experimenting with ways to use the compound molybdenum disulfide to split water, the team realized that the compound’s protons did not overlap well with that of hydrogen. They ultimately determined that the best way to split the hydrogen was to create an alloy with the molybdenum disulfide. They created a thin film with alternating graphene and tungsten-molybdenum layers.

Researchers at Chalmers University, affiliated with the Graphene Flagship, have devised a graphene-based spin field-effect transistor with the ability to function at room temperature. The team used the spin of electrons in graphene and similar layered material heterostructures to fabricate working devices in a step towards combining memory devices and the logic of spintronics.

The researchers demonstrated that the spin characteristics of graphene can be electrically regulated in a controlled way, even at an ambient temperature. In addition to possibly unlocking various probabilities in spin logic operations, this study also enables integration with magnetic memory elements in a device unit. If further advancements can assist in the production of a spin current without the need for charge flow, the amount of power needed will be considerably reduced, resulting in highly versatile devices.

A team of researchers from Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed sensors which can be sprayed directly onto flat or curved surfaces. The sensors, made from a hybrid of carbon black (CB), graphene, other conductive nano-scale particles, and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), can be networked to extract rich real-time information on the health status of the structure being monitored.

The technology includes a sensor network with a number of the sprayed nanocomposite sensors and an ultrasound actuator to actively detect the health condition of the structure to which they are fixed. When the ultrasound actuator emits guided ultrasonic waves (GUWs), the sensors will receive and measure the waves. If damage is detected, such as a crack in the structure, propagation of GUWs will be interfered by the damage, leading to the wave scattering phenomena to be captured by the sensor network. The damage can then be characterised quantitatively and accurately.

The Graphene Flagship has announced preparations for two new experiments in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), to test the viability of graphene for space applications. Both experiments will launch between 6-17th November 2017, testing graphene in zero-gravity conditions to determine its potential in space applications.

One of the two experiments (named GrapheneX) will be fully student-led, by a team of Graphene Flagship graduate students from Delft Technical University in the Netherlands. The team will use microgravity conditions in the ZARM Drop Tower (Bremen, Germany) to test graphene for light sails. By shining laser light on suspended graphene-membranes from Flagship partner Graphenea, the experiment will test how much thrust can be generated, which could lead to a new way of propelling satellites in space using light from lasers or the sun.

Applied Graphene Materials has partnered with HMG Paints to develop and commercialize graphene-containing coatings for a variety of industries. Following an initial stage of controlled environment testing, which reportedly produced positive results, the two companies are now testing their product in a real world environment.

Tests will focus on the application of graphene-based coatings in both the commercial Vehicle and construction Equipment markets in partnership with a leading UK commercial vehicle body builder.

Today we published a new version of all our graphene market reports. Graphene-Info provides comprehensive niche graphene market reports, and our reports cover everything you need to know about these niche markets. The reports are now updated to July 2017.

The Graphene Batteries Market Report:

• The advantages using graphene batteries
• The different ways graphene can be used in batteries
• Various types of graphene materials
• What's on the market today
• Detailed specifications of some graphene-enhanced anode material
• Personal contact details into most graphene developers

The report package provides a good introduction to the graphene battery - present and future. It includes a list of all graphene companies involved with batteries and gives detailed specifications of some graphene-enhanced anode materials and contact details into most graphene developers. Read more here!

Anker’s audio brand, Zolo, has launched a Kickstarter campaign for its Liberty+, a pair of graphene-enhanced fully wireless earphones. The campaign has already surpassed $600,000 at the time of writing, charging past its $50,000 goal with a over 30 days left to go. An update from July 31 shows the campaign already managed to secure a staggering $2,804,475.

The use of graphene-augmented drivers for the Liberty+ is interesting, and could theoretically yield excellent audio quality. In addition the the graphene boost, the Liberty will also include an AI assistant integration to control your music playback through voice commands, as well as provide information on weather, news alerts, traffic updates, and more. Zolo says they’ll be compatible with Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana. Some other features are intriguing, like its battery life and connectivity.

Versarien announced its financial results for the year ended on March 31. While revenues rose to £5.9 million (from £4.4 million in the previous year), the company's pre-tax losses also increased £2.2 million (from £1.8 million). At the end of the year Versarien had £1.4 million in cash and equivalents.

As part of its report, Versarien says that it entered into agreements to develop graphene enhanced polyetherketone type materials. Versarien also says that it shipped £100,000 worth of graphene to a European customer.