September 2020

Royal Canadian Navy partners with ZEN Graphene and Evercloak to test graphene oxide dehumidification membrane technology

ZEN Graphene Solutions recently announced that the Naval Material Technology Management (NMTM) section of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) has partnered with ZEN and Evercloak as a testing organization, and has agreed to provide in-kind donations of test services from the Naval Engineering Test Establishment (NETE).

The tests will compare the efficiency of an HVAC unit produced with the Evercloak dehumidification membrane technology to the incumbent HVAC system that is currently in use on the RCN’s Halifax-class frigates.

 

Read the full story Posted: Sep 30,2020

Edmonton Airport to host trial of new graphene-based COVID-19 testing technology

It was recently reported that Edmonton International Airport (YEG) will host a trial for a new graphene-based COVID-19 testing technology that can produce results in seconds. The trials will be executed in partnership with GLC Medical, a subsidiary of Graphene Leaders Canada (GLC).

The test is conducted with a handheld unit that takes a saliva sample from a person and is expected to tell if someone has COVID-19 in under one minute, compared to other tests with longer laboratory-based waiting periods for results. This test promises many advantages, from its ease of use to the elimination of the nasal swab to direct virus detection.

Read the full story Posted: Sep 29,2020

NUS team develops "terraced graphene" for ultrasensitive magnetic field sensors

National University of Singapore (NUS) scientists have developed a sensitive graphene-enhanced 2D magnetic field sensor, which can potentially improve the detection of nanoscale magnetic domains for data storage applications.

Magnetoresistance (MR), the change in the electrical resistance of a material due to the influence of an external magnetic field, has been widely used in magnetic sensors, magnetic memories and hard disk drives. However, in traditional 3D material-based magnetic sensors that use giant MR (GMR) or tunneling MR (TMR) spin-valves, the detectable signal of the magnetic field decays exponentially with the thickness of its sensing layer. This limits the spatial resolution and sensitivity of the sensors. Therefore, a 2D-based sensor can potentially improve the detection of minuscule magnetic fields, as the decay is limited to only one atomic layer thickness.

Read the full story Posted: Sep 28,2020

Graphene nano-ribbons could help build future integrated circuits

University of California researchers, along with teams from other U.S-based institutions like Columbia University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of Washington, have created a metallic wire made entirely of carbon, setting the stage for a ramp-up in research to build carbon-based transistors and, ultimately, computers.

"Staying within the same material, within the realm of carbon-based materials, is what brings this technology together now," said Felix Fischer, UC Berkeley professor of chemistry, noting that the ability to make all circuit elements from the same material makes fabrication easier. "That has been one of the key things that has been missing in the big picture of an all-carbon-based integrated circuit architecture."

Read the full story Posted: Sep 25,2020

Novel graphene-based sensors function in harsh environments

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and University of California Berkeley researchers have found that graphene-based sensors can perform in harsh environments that are inhospitable to other existing technologies.

Multisensory graphene sensors for various uses imageThe structure of graphene sensors for pH (top left), salinity (lower left) and temperature (right). Credit: 2020 Shaikh & Hussain, from Phys.org

"Graphene has been projected as a miracle material for years now, but its application in harsh environmental conditions was unexplored," says Sohail Shaikh, who has developed the new sensors, together with KAUST's Muhammad Hussain. "Existing sensor technologies operate in a very limited range of environmental conditions, failing or becoming unreliable if there is much deviation," Shaikh adds.

Read the full story Posted: Sep 25,2020

ZEN Graphene Solutions develops a graphene-based ink with 99% virucidal activity against COVID-19

ZEN Graphene Solutions has reported that it has developed a novel graphene-based virucidal ink with 99% effectiveness against COVID-19. ZEN’s Virucidal ink was reportedly also 99% effective a minimum of 35 days after application to N95 mask material.

ZEN is now developing plans to expedite commercialization of this product, pending regulatory approval, and has filed a provisional patent for this graphene-based virucidal product.

Read the full story Posted: Sep 23,2020

Graphene-based platform enables real-time monitoring of the molecular self-assembly process at the solid/liquid interface

Researchers from the University of Strasbourg & CNRS (France), in collaboration with Humboldt University of Berlin and DWI Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials/RWTH Aachen University in Germany, have shown that graphene devices can be used to monitor in real time the dynamics of molecular self-assembly at the solid/liquid interface.

Molecular self-assembly on surfaces is an attractive strategy to provide substrates with specific properties. Understanding the dynamics of the self-assembly process is vital in order to master surface functionalization. However, real-time monitoring of molecular self-assembly on a given substrate has proven complicated by the challenge to disentangle interfacial and bulk phenomena.

Read the full story Posted: Sep 21,2020

Paragraf’s graphene Hall Effect sensors found to be resistant to neutron irradiation

In June 2020, Paragraf entered into a working partnership with the Magnetic Measurement section at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, to demonstrate how new opportunities for magnetic measurements are opened up through the unique properties of its graphene sensor, particularly its negligible planar Hall effect. Now, Paragraf has demonstrated the ability of its graphene Hall Effect sensors to withstand high levels of radiation.

Paragraf’s graphene Hall Effect sensors image

This conclusion, based on testing from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), proves that ‘unpackaged’ Hall Effect sensors can be used in high-radiation environments such as space. The project was funded by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.

Read the full story Posted: Sep 21,2020

Graphene quantum dots help check water content in soil

A recent study by researchers at Gauhati University, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and DAIICT in India has demonstrated a soil moisture sensor made from graphene quantum dots, which are nanometer-sized fragments of graphene.

Water sensors are vital for various agriculture applications, like keeping track of the watering schedule for a large number of plants, such as for a field of crops. Soil moisture sensors measure the water content in the soil to avoiid crop destruction by under or over watering the field.

Read the full story Posted: Sep 18,2020