Researchers associated with the Graphene Flagship have reported overcoming the theoretical limiting performance of membranes in gas separation. This collaborative research from CNR, University of Bologna and Graphene-XT has potential applications in hydrogen purification and carbon capture and storage.

The team explains that polymer-based membranes for gas separation have a trade-off between high gas permeability and high gas selectivity, the so-called Robeson upper bound. By combining individual graphene oxide sheets with polymer spacers, in a sandwich style structure, the researchers have been able to overcome this limit, separating gas quickly and efficiently.

A study led by SISSA (Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati), in association with the University of Antwerp (Belgium), the University of Trieste and the Institute of Science and Technology of Barcelona (Spain), reports the phenomenon of ion trapping by "graphene carpets" and its effect on the communication between neurons. The researchers observed an increase in the activity of nerve cells grown on a single layer of graphene. Combining theoretical and experimental approaches, they have shown that the phenomenon is due to the ability of the material to 'trap' several ions present in the surrounding environment on its surface, modulating its composition.

The researchers analyzed the behavior of neurons grown on a single layer of graphene, observing a strengthening in their activity. Through theoretical and experimental approaches, the researchers have shown that such behavior is due to reduced ion mobility, in particular of potassium, to the neuron-graphene interface. This phenomenon is commonly called ion trapping, already understood at the theoretical level, but observed experimentally for the first time only now.

Haydale announced that the company's revenues for FY2018 (which will end on June 2018) are expected to be around 15-20% higher the revenues generated in FY2017 (£3.0 million). This excludes grant income of around £0.85 million in FY2018.

This is lower than what the company expected earlier, and the company's loss will be about the same as in FY2017. At the end of May 2018, Haydale had £5.6 million in cash and equivalents.

Versarien, through its subsidiary Cambridge Graphene, has signed a wide-ranging agreement with Arrow Greentech, an India-based holding company and a leading global manufacturer of cast water-soluble film. In addition, Versarien launched a new brand to market its graphene inks under the name Graphinks.

Versarien and Arrow Greentech have entered into an exclusive commercial arrangement for the supply of propriety Graphinks (graphene inks) to Arrow Greentech for onward supply to the water-soluble film market worldwide; to collaborate on exploring the potential benefits of using graphene within security threads for banknotes and passports on a named-exclusive basis.

A team of researchers at MIT, Raytheon BBN Technologies and Columbia University have used graphene to design a fast yet highly sensitive bolometer that can work at room temperature and may even be less expensive. Bolometers are devices that monitor electromagnetic radiation through heating of an absorbing material. Most such devices have limited bandwidth and must be operated at ultralow temperatures, which damages their usefulness.

The findings of this work could help pave the way toward new kinds of astronomical observatories for long-wavelength emissions, new heat sensors for buildings, and even new kinds of quantum sensing and information processing devices, the multidisciplinary research team says.

Researchers at MIT and Israel's Technion have used graphene to devise a new way of enhancing the interactions between light and matter, in a work that could someday lead to more efficient solar cells that collect a wider range of light wavelengths, and new kinds of lasers and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that could have fully tunable color emissions.

The basic principle behind the new approach is a way to get the momentum of light particles (photons) to more closely match that of electrons, which is normally much greater. This huge difference in momentum normally causes these particles to interact very weakly; bringing their momenta closer together enables much greater control over their interactions, which could enable new kinds of basic research on these processes as well as a host of new applications, the researchers say.

Linney Tuning, a UK-based company that specializes in the research and development of innovative performance tuning components and custom calibration solutions, is using bi-layer graphene in the development of brake pads - currently in the development/testing stage. In addition, Linney states that it should have graphene clutch plates in testing by the end of June 2018.

According to the company, these brake pads will:

• ensure quiet, clean braking performance.
• be stronger and with higher density and less resin for quieter, highly reliable braking performance.
• have less resin content in positive dry mix formulations resulting in less fad.