An international team, including scientists from DIPC and CFM (CSIC-UPV/EHU) in San Sebastian, CIQUS - Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Czech Academy of Sciences (Prague), Palacký University (Olomouc), Ikerbasque (Basque Country) and CINN (CSIC-UNIOVI-PA) in El Entrego, have demonstrated two chemical protection/deprotection strategies for the on-surface synthesis of graphene nanostructures.

On-surface synthesis is a synthetic approach that differs from standard wet-chemistry approaches. Instead of the three-dimensional space of solvents in the latter, the environment of the reactants in this approach are well-defined two-dimensional solid surfaces that are typically held under vacuum conditions. These differences have allowed the successful synthesis of a great variety of molecular structures that could not be obtained by conventional means. Among the structures that are raising particular interest are carbon-nanostructures with zigzag-shaped edges, which endow the materials with exciting electronic and even magnetic properties of potential interest for a great variety of applications that include quantum technologies.

An international team of scientists, led by Dr. Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo based at the National Graphene Institute (NGI), used graphene as an electrode to measure both the electrical force applied on water molecules and the rate at which these break in response to such force. The researchers found that water breaks exponentially faster in response to stronger electrical forces.

The researchers believe that this fundamental understanding of interfacial water could be used to design better catalysts to generate hydrogen fuel from water. Dr Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo said: “We hope that the insights from this work will be of use to various communities, including physics, catalysis, and interfacial science and that it can help design better catalysts for green hydrogen production”.

Haydale Graphene Industries has reported a widened pretax loss for the fiscal year of 2022, reflecting increased costs for sales, marketing, quality and production capability. Haydale's reported pretax loss was of GBP5.2 million ($5.9 million) for the year ended June 30, compared with a loss of GBP3.8 million (around $4.3 million) a year ago.

The Company's revenue totaled at GBP2.9 million ($3.3 million). This represents a robust performance given that fiscal 2021 revenue was mainly boosted by a pull forward of GBP1.2 million ($1.35 million) silicon carbide and a GBP400,000 ($451,000) one-time reactor sale, it added.

First Graphene will work with the Breedon Group, Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure and the University of Manchester to develop a new reduced-CO₂ graphene-enhanced cement. The consortium is currently formulating the cement using varying doses of First Graphene’s PureGRAPH graphene-enhanced grinding aid. The project received a research grant from the UK government earlier in 2022.

First Graphene says that the study involves one of the largest commercial trials of its kind to date globally.

a collaboration between Sparc Technologies, Swinburne University and Composite Materials Engineering focuses on smart composite structures to help engineers detect structural defects in planes and rockets before they cause disaster. The industry-linked project will create graphene-enabled smart composites for aviation, aerospace and renewable energy.

The project was funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant from the Federal Government, with over AUD$1 million (around USD $640,000) invested across Swinburne University, the government and industry partners.