June 2022

Swedish graphene-solutions provider Graphmatech has partnered with 3D printer manufacturer Wematter to enhance polymer powders with graphene, to make them electrically- and thermally conductive, improve processibility, and more.

Together, the two startups will develop an electrically conductive powder, tailored for Gravity the SLS 3D printer by Wematter. The high-performance powder will enable Telecommunications, Aerospace and Automotive manufacturers to print parts with improved or maintained mechanical properties whilst achieving electrostatic dissipative (ESD), shielding, or even lower resistivity, performance.

Scientists from Michigan State University and Stanford University have invented the “NeuroString” — a soft implantable probe that enables researchers to study the chemistry of brain and gut health. 

Three flexible NeuroString sensors. Credit: Courtesy of Jinxing Li

The mainstream way people are trying to understand the brain is to read and record electric signals, said Jinxing Li, the paper’s first author and an assistant professor in MSU’s College of Engineering. But chemical signals play just as significant a role in brain communication, and they are also directly related to diseases. My lab at MSU focuses on developing cutting-edge neuroprobes and microrobotics.

This is a sponsored post by SP Nano

Israel-based SP Nano developed a unique dispersion technology based on a genetically engineered exceptionally stable protein that is highly suitable for carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) dispersion, including graphene, CNTs and carbon black.

Following years of intensive R&D, SP Nano is now offering its dispersions to application developers. This is the first time that carbon nanomaterials can “truly” be dispersed and achieve cutting-edge performance across a wide range of applications.

SP Nano’s dispersions are now being applied to a wide range of applications, such as

• Coatings (textiles, surfaces, powders, etc.)
• Dispersions in matrices (resins, polymers, etc.)
• Liquid formulations (coolants, inks, slurries, etc.)

A UK-based start-up called Vector Homes, working on new techniques and materials for sustainable housing using graphene, has announced securing nearly £200,000 (almost USD$245,800) in Smart Grant funding by Innovate UK.

The money will help fund a research program to develop graphene-enhanced recycled plastic formulations for residential construction. The project will enhance polymers with nano-materials to increase strength, durability, thermal and acoustic performance and further recyclability.

Versarien has announced the launch of a new hybrid nanomaterial that has superparamagnetic properties, which can be used across a range of applications, like defense and healthcare. The new material combines graphene with both iron oxide and manganese oxide nanoparticles and its development was led by Versarien's 62% owned subsidiary, Gnanomat.

The superparamagnetic material combines graphene with both iron oxide and manganese oxide nanoparticles that provide the material with magnetic properties. In return, graphene provides electrical conductivity to these electrically insulating metal oxides. Magnetic nanocomposites can readily respond to external magnetic fields which allow them to be manipulated. Potential applications of the material include the treatment of wastewater whereby pollutants are adsorbed onto the graphene surface. The material could also lends be used in biomedical and biotechnology applications, or defense applications requiring the shielding of electromagnetic fields. Magnetic manipulation could allow the recovery and recycling of the graphene, something that could not be done with normal graphene compounds.

A team of researchers from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of California, Santa Barbara have invented a graphene-based device that electronically converts one metal into behaving like another to use as a catalyst for speeding chemical reactions.

The fabricated device, called a catalytic condenser, is the first to demonstrate that alternative materials that are electronically modified to provide new properties can yield faster, more efficient chemical processing.

Last year's announcement about a British engineering company called Viritech that is working on an ambitious hydrogen-powered hypercar was recently followed by an update on that same company, that unveiled its 745kW hydrogen-powered hypercar, styled by Italian car design specialist Pininfarina.

The Apricale, which produces zero emissions, made its debut at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed. It was said that the Apricale uses ‘graphene-reinforced hydrogen pressure vessels’, which was explained to mean that the hydrogen storage tanks form a structural element of the chassis. This reduces weight and cost, while simplifying the structure.

Researchers at the University of Vienna have measured the migration of carbon atoms on the surface of graphene for the first time. Although the atoms move too quickly to be directly observed with an electron microscope, their effect on the stability of the material can now be determined indirectly while the material is heated on a microscopic hot plate.

Graphene has been the subject of intensive research for years, but it has not been possible to measure some fundamental processes, including the motion of carbon atoms on its surface. This random migration is the atomic origin of the phenomenon of diffusion - the natural motion of particles such as atoms or molecules in gases, liquids or solids. In the atmosphere and the oceans, this phenomenon ensures an even distribution of oxygen and salt. In the technical industries, it is of central importance for steel production, lithium-ion batteries, and fuel cells, to name a few examples. In materials science, diffusion at the surface of solids explains how certain catalytic reactions proceed and many crystalline materials including graphene are grown.

HydroGraph Clean Power has announced that it has opened its 13,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Manhattan, KS for production of its graphene materials.

The company’s patented Hyperion detonation process reportedly achieves high quality graphene at both the lower cost and an environmentally friendly manner due to its low energy consumption and absence of emissions.

An international research group, including teams from CHOSE at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Hellenic Mediterranean University in Greece and others, has developed a large-area perovskite solar panel with graphene-doped electron transporting layers (ETLs) and functionalized molybdenum disulfide (fMoS₂) buffer layers inserted between the perovskite layer and the hole transporting layer (HTL).

The team reported that with increasing temperatures, the module exhibited a smaller drop in open-circuit voltage than commercially available crystalline silicon panels.