Graphene Foam: Introduction and News

iGii has secured £22.7 million (about US$30.4 million) in new funding to accelerate the commercialization and industrial adoption of its patented 3D graphene foam, Gii. The round comprises an £11.7 million (about US$15.7 million) Series B investment led by the Scottish National Investment Bank, with additional backing from PXN Ventures and Archangels, plus £11 million (about US$14.7 million) from Scottish Enterprise. This follows an earlier £8.8 million raise in 2024, also led by SNIB, which funded scaling of Gii-Sens, the company's diagnostic-sensor component.

Gii is a patented, porous 3D graphene foam that iGii says can be produced directly onto any surface at room temperature in seconds, a manufacturing approach designed to avoid the scale-up challenges that have historically limited graphene's use in mass-market applications. The company said the new funding marks a shift from years of R&D into commercial execution, and will support continued growth across its team, which is set to climb from 55 to 70 employees by the end of the year.

NanoXplore has reported fiscal year 2026 results with total revenues of C$117.3 million (about US$84.3 million), down 9% from C$128.9 million (about US$92.6 million) the prior year, and a net loss of C$11.8 million (about US$8.5 million), compared to C$9.7 million (about US$6.9 million) in FY2025. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 7% year-over-year to C$33.9 million (about US$24.4 million), though adjusted EBITDA for the full year fell to C$1.9 million (about US$1.4 million) from C$6.1 million (about US$4.4 million), reflecting lower volumes and tooling revenues in the Advanced Materials, Plastics and Composite Products segment. The company guided to total revenues of C$130–140 million (about US$93.4–100.6 million) for fiscal 2027 and C$160–170 million (about US$115–122.2 million) for fiscal 2028.

The most significant strategic update came from VoltaXplore, NanoXplore's silicon-graphene-enhanced Li-ion battery subsidiary. Following a strategic review, the company has repositioned VoltaXplore away from its earlier focus on electric-vehicle applications and toward defense and dual-use platforms, including UAVs, UGVs, and portable electronics for Canadian and U.S. defense customers. NanoXplore cited growing demand for domestically produced battery cells driven by trade and geopolitical developments, along with procurement preferences for Canadian-manufactured products. VoltaXplore, which operates a 1 MWh cylindrical cell production facility in Montreal, has begun supplying cells to interested parties for testing and qualification, and continues to receive support from Natural Resources Canada's Energy Innovation Program and the National Research Council of Canada's IRAP program.

Vorbeck Materials has secured a $6.6 million contract from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to support the development and deployment of its PFAS-free, graphene-enabled firefighting foam technology. The agreement is expected to strengthen the company’s operations in North Dakota while advancing environmentally safer alternatives to conventional firefighting agents that contain harmful “forever chemicals.”

Vorbeck’s solution includes a flame-retardant formulation that can be mixed with seawater, offering significant advantages for naval applications such as shipboard fire suppression. The technology is also suited for extreme cold environments, where saltwater’s lower freezing point enhances operational reliability.

The Bio.3DGREEN project, which was launched at the end of May 2025 and will run for 42 months, brings together 14 partners from Germany, Spain, UK, Greece, Cyprus, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, and Switzerland to develop a new way to produce bio-based components using graphene foam. 

By mimicking sponge-like structures found in nature, known for shock absorption and vibration mitigation, Bio.3DGREEN develops and demonstrates a cost-effective, bio-based solution from vegetable oil-derived graphene. This EU-funded project combines biomimetic engineering and laser-based Additive Manufacturing (AM) to generate durable, lightweight components for applications in automotive, aerospace, and shipping sectors. Inspired by biological structures such as trabecular bone and honeycombs, the manufactured parts exhibit high performance even under extreme environmental conditions.

Researchers form Boise State University and University of Idaho have developed a technique that leverages biocompatible graphene foam to communicate with cells and help induce cartilage formation. 

In this work, the researchers aimed to develop new techniques and materials that can hopefully lead to new treatments for osteoarthritis through tissue engineering. Osteoarthritis is driven by the irreversible degradation of hyaline cartilage in the joints which eventually leads to pain and disability with complete joint replacement being the standard clinical treatment. Using custom designed and 3D printed bioreactors with electrical feedthroughs, they delivered brief daily electrical impulses to cells being cultured on 3D graphene foam.

Researchers at Penn State and Hebei University of Technology recently developed stretchable thermoelectric porous graphene foam-based materials via facile laser scribing for self-powered decoupled strain and temperature sensing. The new sensor material enables precise and separate measurement of temperature and physical strain, a vital development for biosensors, for accurately tracking various health signals.

The team’s innovation is based on laser-induced graphene (LIG), created by using a laser to convert carbon-rich materials, such as plastic or wood, into graphene by heating their surfaces. This simple and scalable process is already used in a variety of applications, including gas sensors and electrochemical detectors. However, the scientists believe they have uncovered a new, critical property of LIG that makes it ideal for multi-signal sensing.

Scientists at the University of Bath, working in collaboration with Integrated Graphene, have created a new type of chemosensor (demonstrated for lactic acid sensing) which functions with electricity but without the need for reference electrodes or battery power. The new design potentially offers lower cost, better shelf-life, and ease of miniaturization compared to enzyme-based sensors. This could open up the possibility for an easy-to-use sensor to be used in remote locations, such as an athletics track, without the need for electricity-powered sensing equipment.

The sensor was able to detect lactic acid, a by-product generated by the body when it metabolizes carbohydrates or glucose for fuel, for example, during exercise. High levels of lactic acid are linked with higher risks of falling unconscious or into a coma and major organ failure.

The GIANCE research project officially commenced on October 1st, marking a step toward addressing environmental challenges with innovative solutions.

GIANCE is an ambitious initiative that seeks to establish a holistic, integrated and industry-driven platform with a clear focus on improving sustainable materials and their real-world applications. This project is dedicated to designing, developing and scaling up the next generation of cost-effective, sustainable, lightweight and recyclable graphene and related materials (GRM)-based multifunctional composites, coatings, foams and membranes (GRM-bM).

Graphite One, a mining company planning a complete domestic U.S. supply chain for advanced graphite materials, has announced that it has received a US$4.7 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Logistics Agency ("DLA") to develop a graphite and graphene-based foam fire suppressant as an alternative to incumbent PFAS fire-suppressant materials, as required by U.S. law.

"Graphite One is pleased to begin work on this Defense Logistics Agency project, which responds to the legally-mandated requirement to develop a new alternative to long-standing foam fire suppressants which are known to have toxic impacts on human health and the environment," said Anthony Huston, President and CEO of Graphite One. "This DLA contract underscores the importance of graphite for innovative technology applications beyond the renewable energy markets – an important part of Graphite One's advanced graphite materials strategy."

Researchers from the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), in collaboration with Integrated Graphene, have examined the potential of three-dimensional graphene (3DG) foam (Gii) as an active layer in triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) and as an energy harvesting power source for autonomous sensors.

The research showed that the force of a human footprint on a pressure-sensitive mat equipped with Gii-TENG sensors can produce enough energy to anonymously keep track of people entering or leaving a room.