Gerdau Graphene has announced that Brazil has adopted an internationally-recognized industry standard for graphene. The Brazilian standard, published by Brazil’s National Standards Forum (ABNT), is identical to an existing international graphene standard that was developed in collaboration with more than 30 countries, including Brazil, under ISO/TC 229 – Nanotechnologies. The standard aims to characterize the different products that make up the class of materials named graphene, thus contributing to the development of new technologies.
In addition, Gerdau Graphene hosted an international consortium of nanotechnology researchers and industry leaders from April 8-12, 2024, in São Paulo, Brazil. The ISO/TC 229 – Nanotechnologies working groups covered topics related to terminology and nomenclature; measurement and characterization; health, safety, and environmental aspects of nanotechnologies; material specifications; products and applications; and more.
“The global graphene market continues to grow thanks to increasing demand and technological advancement, however the absence of norms and standards have hindered its widespread commercialization,” said Valdirene Sullas Teixeira Peressinotto, Executive Director and Innovation at Gerdau Graphene and member of the Special Nanotechnology Study Commission (ABNT/CEE-089), which collaborated with ABNT to publish the standard. “Industry and academia, in partnership with ABNT, have strived to standardize the entire chain of this material to support the development of new products. Publishing this standard enables accurate categorization and commercial deployment and will greatly accelerate graphene’s adoption and use across industry.”
ABNT/CEE-089 has published eight standards to date and has another ten projects in development; four are part of ABNT NBR ISO 80004 (3, 5, 6, and 8) and two parts dealing with Nanotechnology vocabulary (1 and 13) have already been published.
For ABNT’s president Mario William Esper, the new standard will help stimulate the dissemination of graphene knowledge and applications: “This is a ground-breaking initiative to promote the scientific advancement and strengthening of this revolutionary material, which can generate so much wealth and foreign exchange trading for Brazil.”