Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like pattern. Graphene is considered to be the world's thinnest, strongest and most conductive material - of both electricity and heat. All of these properties are exciting researchers and businesses around the world - as graphene has the potential to revolutionize entire industries - in the fields of electricity, conductivity, energy generation, batteries, sensors and more.
Mechanical strength
Graphene is the world's strongest material, and can be used to enhance the strength of other materials. Dozens of researchers have demonstrated that adding even a trace amount of graphene to plastics, metals or other materials can make these materials much stronger - or lighter (as you can use a smaller amount of material to achieve the same strength).
Such graphene-enhanced composite materials can find uses in aerospace, building materials, mobile devices, and many other applications.
Thermal applications
Graphene is the most heat conductive found to date. As graphene is also strong and light, it means that it is a great material for making heat-spreading solutions, such as heat sinks or heat dissipation films. This could be useful in both microelectronics (for example to make LED lighting more efficient and longer lasting) and also in larger applications - for example thermal foils for mobile devices. Huawei's latest smartphones, for example, have adopted graphene-based thermal films.
Energy storage
Since graphene is the world's thinnest material, it also extremely high surface-area to volume ratio. This makes graphene a very promising material for use in batteries and supercapacitors. Graphene may enable batteries and supercapacitors (and even fuel-cells) that can store more energy - and charge faster, too.
The advantages of graphene batteries
Coatings ,sensors, electronics and more
Graphene has a lot of promise for additional applications: anti-corrosion coatings and paints, efficient and precise sensors, faster and efficient electronics, flexible displays, efficient solar panels, faster DNA sequencing, drug delivery, and more.
Graphene is such a great and basic building block that it seems that any industry can benefit from this new material. Time will tell where graphene will indeed make an impact - or whether other new materials will be more suitable.
The latest Graphene Application news:
Versarien launches graphene-enhanced protective face masks
Versarien has announced the launch of its first graphene-enhanced protective face mask, which utilizes Polygrene, Versarien’s graphene-enhanced polymer.
The launch of the new protective face mask is said to coincide with the first two orders Versarien has received following recent prelaunch sales activity, which resulted in 100,000 masks being delivered to a leading British university and 20,000 ordered by a UK electrical and mechanical servicing and repairs business.
First Graphene announces successful trials with HDPE for oceanic farming
In May, First Graphene announced it is collaborating with Hexcyl to develop PureGRAPH-enhanced HDPE materials for use in Hexcyl’s range of oyster baskets and long-line farming systems. Now, First Graphene updated on successful trial results from the application of PureGRAPH graphene to these oyster baskets with the South Australian shellfish aquaculture manufacturer Hexcyl Systems.
Using FGR’s PureGRAPH products, the High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) reportedly showed improvements in strength, wear resistance and longevity.
Zen Graphene Solutions moves forward with applying its virucidal graphene ink in PPE applications
ZEN Graphene Solutions has announced it has commenced collaborations with research teams at a number of personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers to incorporate ZEN’s virucidal graphene ink into commercial products, including masks, gloves, gowns and other clothing following Zen’s promising results for an antiviral, graphene-based ink formulation from The University of Western Ontario’s ImPaKT Facility, biosafety Level 3 lab.
The company continues to optimize its proprietary formulation for dosage and delivery mechanism for highest antiviral impact. The next phase of testing is currently underway at the ImPaKT Facility and includes a preferred mask fabric coated in ZEN’s virucidal ink exposed to and tested against the COVID-19 virus.
First Graphene collaborates with the University of Warwick on graphene-enhanced thermoplastics
First Graphene has announced a collaboration with the University of Warwick on a project to unlock the potential of graphene in thermoplastic systems.
First Graphene has secured an award under the Warwick Collaborative Post Graduate Research Scholarship Scheme, in conjunction with the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG). WMG has established a successful model for collaboration between academia and the private and public sectors and has very strong links with world-leading industrial partners such as Jaguar Land Rover, who have located their advanced research group at the WMG campus.
Mapping crystal shapes could fast-track mass production of 2D materials
Materials scientists at Rice University and the University of Pennsylvania have published an article calling for a collective, global effort to fast-track the mass production of 2D materials like graphene and molybdenum disulfide.
In their perspective article, journal editor-in-chief Jun Lou and colleagues make a case for a focused, collective effort to address the research challenges that could clear the way for large-scale mass production of 2D materials.