Graphene Flagship: Europe's $1 billion graphene initiative - Page 3

BeDimensional, a spin-off of the Graphene Flagship Partner Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), has announced its second €10 million Series B investment round, which was led by CDP Venture Capital through the Evoluzione fund, with Novacapital - holding company focused on innovative ventures - and Eni Next - the Eni's Corporate Venture Capital company.

Following the entry of shareholder Pellan Italia in 2018, the company will benefit from this new round of financing to strengthen its industrial activity, expand human resources with high-level professionals and leverage the vast networks of new partners to consolidate and accelerate commercial growth.

The Enlit Europe 2022 energy conference recently took place, and the Graphene Flagship participated, showing some of the latest energy-related graphene projects. We took the chance to discuss graphene with some of the flagship researchers, and we also talked to Prof. Jari Kinaret, the director of the flagship project, to learn of how he summarizes the last 10 years now that the flagship project will soon end.

Q: We understand that the Graphene Flagship is attending Enlit Europe 2022, showing some new graphene R&D projects. We'll be happy to get an overview of what will be displayed at the event.

At Enlit Europe, the Graphene Flagship exhibited innovations from its Spearhead Projects, which are industry-led initiatives working to move materials from research labs towards commercial applications. Among these initiatives are:

• CircuitBreakers, led by ABB and developing first-of-their-kind grease-free, maintenance-free, low-voltage circuit breakers for fault protection in key parts of the electrical grid;
• GRAPES, led by Enel Green Power and working on combining silicon solar cells with perovskite solar cells, paving the way for low-cost, highly efficient photovoltaic energy, surpassing the limits of silicon based cells.

Graphene Flagship Partners University of Cambridge (UK) and Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB, Belgium) collaborated with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC, United Arab Emirates) and the European Space Agency (ESA) to test graphene on the Moon. This joint effort sees the involvement of many international partners, such as Airbus Defense and Space, Khalifa University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technische Universität Dortmund, University of Oslo, and Tohoku University.

The MASER15 launch. Credit: John-Charles Dupin/Eurekalert

The Rashid rover is planned to be launched today (30 November 2022) from Cape Canaveral in Florida and will land on a geologically rich and, as yet, only remotely explored area on the Moon’s nearside – the side that always faces the Earth. During one lunar day, equivalent to approximately 14 days on Earth, Rashid will move on the lunar surface investigating interesting geological features.

An international research team of the Graphene Flagship project, led by Empa, has conducted a study on the health risks of graphene-containing nanoparticles and found that graphene-based particles released from polymer composites after abrasion induce negligible health effects.

Graphene-related materials (GRMs) are often used to reinforce polymers. In small concentrations of up to five weight percent, GRMs can significantly enhance the strength, electrical conductivity and thermal transport of composites for a variety of applications. However, being a relatively new set of materials, graphene and GRMs need to be carefully assessed in order to identify potential adverse effects prior commercialization.

The results of an international comparison of the measurement of graphene, led by NPL, have been released. The work was conducted through the Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS) and in collaboration with institutes from around the world.

The international interlaboratory comparison (ILC) outlined improvements that reduce measurement uncertainty, in some cases by a factor of 15, and which will be the basis for a new international standard which is currently under development within ISO/IEC for Raman spectroscopy. This will aim to become a verified source of data and ultimately provide more accurate and precise measurement standards for the global graphene industry.

The 2D Experimental Pilot Line (2D-EPL), that originated from the Graphene Flagship, recently launched its first customizable wafer run.

As one of five multi-project wafer (MPW) runs, this first phase is targeting sensor applications. Companies, universities and research institutes can include their designs as dies on joint wafers, to test their ideas for devices on a larger scale at relatively low costs. The first 2D-EPL MPW run opened in February and the call closes on 30 June 2022. The manufacturing stage of the MPW run will take place between 1 September and 31 October 2022.

INBRAIN Neuroelectronics has signed an agreement for the exploitation and development of three patents and a trade secret, mainly held by the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM) of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), the Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA) and the Biomedical Research Centre Network CIBER BBN. The Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Institut de Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) are also co-owners of the patents. This is a successful process of technology transfer in a public-private collaboration with multiple research institutions.

The company will carry out the development and manufacturing of these technologies within the Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2) and the Micro and Nanofabrication Clean Room of the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM) of the CSIC.

Versarien, an advanced engineering materials group and provider of graphene-enhanced cement admixture, recently announced the launch of its "Lunar" lifestyle pods. Lunar is Versarien's first 3D printed concrete product made with Cementene, Versarien's graphene-enhanced cement.

The launch involved Neill Ricketts, CEO of Versarien, unveiling a building printed with Cementene, at the Company's production facilities in Longhope, Gloucestershire. Known as Versarien Lunar, this is a milestone project for a 3D-concrete printed product with a graphene additive. The versatile pods can be used as an office, studio, gym, or leisure room. The pod's wall design shows the level of detail, flexibility and precision that can be achieved with 3D-concrete printing.

Researchers from RWTH Aachen University and the Graphene Flagship Standardization Committee have pushed through a new IEC standard for assessing the strain uniformity of single-layer graphene using Raman spectroscopy.

Research has shown that the electrical and the structural quality of graphene are intimately connected, and that nanoscale lattice deformations caused by surface corrugations limit the mobility of electrons in graphene. Therefore, controlling the flatness of a graphene sheet is fundamental for the fabrication of high-quality graphene layers for electronic devices and the possibility of measuring this parameter with a simple and fast method is a major technological advantage. Furthermore, the new standard for detecting graphene flatness, pioneered by the Graphene Flagship and published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), could expedite the manufacture and implementation of single-layer graphene.

Emberion recently raised €6 million in funding to further develop their infrared imaging business. Currently, Emberion is one of the leaders in the development of these technologies, enabled by graphene and other layered materials.

Graphene Flagship partner Emberion develops high-performance SWIR sensors for imaging technologies. These devices detect light in both the visible and short-wave infrared (SWIR) wavelengths, enabling new applications in machine vision used in surveillance, autonomous driving, food processing, waste sorting, and more. Emberion also leads Graphene Flagship Spearhead Project GBIRCAM, to design cheaper and more efficient broadband infrared devices.