Graphene production

HydroGraph Clean Power has announced that its U.S. subsidiary, HydroGraph USA Inc., has executed definitive agreements with Western International Gas & Cylinders, Inc. (“Western International”) to secure a long-term supply of acetylene gas and lease land for HydroGraph’s first large-scale U.S. graphene production facility, to be located in Bellville, Texas.

Under the Acetylene Purchase Agreement, HydroGraph USA will purchase acetylene for its Bellville, TX facility directly from Western International via pipeline for an initial ten-year term, with options for renewal. Acetylene serves as the primary feedstock for HydroGraph’s proprietary Hyperion Reactors, which convert hydrocarbon feedstocks into ultra-pure synthetic Fractal Graphene™ products through a highly efficient continuous manufacturing process Contemporaneously, the parties entered into a Ground Lease Agreement granting HydroGraph USA a long-term lease for land located at Western International’s Bellville, Texas facility. The site will host HydroGraph’s new commercial-scale graphene manufacturing facility, which will be constructed, owned, and operated by HydroGraph USA.

Quality Filters Inc. has completed qualification testing of Zentek’s ZenGuard air filtration media and placed its first commercial order, marking Zentek’s entry into commercial production for the US HVAC filtration market.

The initial order includes 244 rolls of ZenGuard filtration media, which will be used to produce various sizes of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) filters. This follows a validation and qualification program that evaluated product compatibility, scalability in manufacturing, and filtration performance under commercial production conditions. The pilot program was first announced in March 2026. According to Zentek, the program confirmed that its graphene-enabled filtration media met Quality Filters’ production specifications, enabling the transition from pilot-stage evaluation to commercial manufacturing and market launch.

Graphene Manufacturing Group (GMG) has announced that it has completed construction and successfully started up its Generation 2.0 Graphene Manufacturing Technology Plant (“Gen 2.0 Plant”). The new facility is designed to produce up to 10 tonnes of graphene per year once remaining works are completed and the plant is fully optimized.

GMG reports that the Gen 2.0 Plant was brought online on schedule before the end of June 2026. The total capital cost is expected to be at or below the previously estimated AU$2.3 million by the end of project completion in late 2026, with project costs currently tracking under budget. According to the Company, the plant is also being developed to be largely self‑powered, using standalone energy generation with renewable energy sources, an energy storage system, and hydrogen‑enriched natural gas from tail‑gas power generation.

Researchers from Texas A&M University and LTEOIL recently demonstrated a scalable, plasma-based route for producing graphene oxide (GO) directly from methane, combining atmospheric-pressure processing with a liquid-phase growth interface to overcome key limitations of conventional synthesis methods.

The approach is based on a non-thermal atmospheric nano-second pulsed plasma (NSPP) process, in which methane is decomposed at or near a water surface that acts as the substrate. Unlike traditional chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which requires high temperatures, reduced pressures, and inert gases, this system operates under ambient conditions without additional gas inputs. The plasma generates a highly reactive environment of radicals and ions, enabling methane to break down and reorganize into graphene oxide sheets directly at the methane-water interface.

Taiwan Carbon Materials Corporation (TCMC) has launched Carbonix Materials as its US subsidiary, establishing operations in New York State to build a domestic supply chain for advanced battery and thermal-management materials. The expansion is led by TCMC co-founder and CEO Dr. Yi-Jun Lin, with Binghamton, NY selected as the company’s US hub.

Founded in 2020, TCMC develops advanced carbon-based materials used in lithium-ion batteries, thermal management systems, and graphene films designed for heat dissipation. The company’s products are already in use by electronics manufacturers, energy storage developers, and research institutions across Asia and Europe, and its technology portfolio includes more than 45 patents.

North Gyeongsang Province in Korea has been selected in a national industrial innovation call to establish a large-scale demonstration and commercialization infrastructure for graphene nanomaterials. The project, part of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s “Industrial Innovation Foundation Establishment Project”, will receive a total budget of 14.3 billion KRW (over US$9 million) and will run through 2030. It aims to accelerate the commercialization of graphene by providing companies with access to shared, state-of-the-art facilities and know-how.

The graphene initiative will be led by the POSTECH Nano Convergence Technology Institute and will, for the first time in Korea, offer an integrated support system that spans the entire value chain: from graphene material synthesis and transfer, through analysis and evaluation, to the fabrication of semiconductor and sensor devices, prototype manufacturing and commercialization support. The province notes that while Korea has strong graphene R&D capabilities, progress toward industrialization has been hampered by a lack of empirical, pilot-scale infrastructure; this new program is designed to close that gap.

The Korean city of Pohang has secured central‑government backing for a new initiative that aims to turn the region into a leading hub for graphene and other two‑dimensional materials. The project centers on an AI‑enabled manufacturing and demonstration platform that will support both R&D and commercialization activities.

The plan is led by North Gyeongsang Province, Pohang City and POSTECH’s Nano Convergence Technology Institute, and has been selected under Korea’s Industrial Innovation Infrastructure Program run by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). Total planned funding is reported at around 14.3 billion KRW (approximately 10.4 million USD) spread over the 2026-2030 period.

China-based developer and manufacturer of smart wearables and telehealth devices, Linktop, has launched the Lifestone Graphene Cooling Headband, a wearable device designed to enhance athletic endurance by reducing core body temperature and heart rate during high-intensity activities. The headband uses graphene's thermal conductivity to enable passive heat dissipation without batteries or evaporative cooling.

The technology is reportedly based on exercise physiology research showing that lower core temperature leads to reduced heart rate, delayed fatigue and improved endurance performance. 

Researchers from Princeton University, University of Michigan, California State University and Japan's National Institute for Materials Science have introduced Qumus, an embodied AI system that can autonomously create graphene and fabricate atomically thin graphene devices in a robotic mini-laboratory.

Qumus AI architecture and fully robotic minilab. a Defining characteristics of an AI experimentalist. b Key self-evolving modules of Qumus, including LLM-agents, memory and knowledge systems, and skills including instrumental workflows and materials/devices realization recipes. c Qumus architecture for efficient multi-agent collaboration and robust performance. d A compact, fully robotic minilab consisting of vacuum- and temperature-controlled stages for 2D material mechanical exfoliation, optical flake search, flake transfer and stacking, along with robotic arms, storage modules, cameras, and microscope systems. Image from : arXiv

Qumus is built around the complete graphene workflow: from exfoliating bulk crystals to isolating single-layer flakes and stacking them into functional van der Waals (vdW) devices, all without human intervention. The system combines generative AI, computer vision and robotics to handle the labor-intensive steps that typically limit graphene research, such as flake discovery, thickness assessment and submicron alignment during transfer.

United Utilities has secured £9.5 million in funding from Ofwat’s sixth Water Breakthrough Challenge to scale up its biogas‑to‑graphene technology and demonstrate how wastewater can become a major source of advanced materials and clean hydrogen. The company will build on a world‑first trial to produce clean hydrogen and graphene from sewage‑derived biogas, aiming to move from pilot to full‑scale deployment and open new commercial routes for graphene in construction and energy storage.

Having already proven the concept with technology partner Levidian, United Utilities will now install a larger unit designed to produce roughly three times more sustainable hydrogen and graphene than the earlier demonstration system. The project is one of 19 winners in Ofwat’s latest Water Breakthrough Challenge round, with United Utilities leading two projects and partnering on nine more, all focused on turning wastewater streams into valuable resources.