Israel's Bar Ilan University (BIU) will establish a nanotechnology excellence center in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The new center at the BIU will include a laboratory to focus on nanomedicine research and two-dimensional (2D) materials engineering, mainly producing graphene.
According to BIU, the main task of the joint research lab is to integrate teamwork of Chinese and Israeli researchers with the participation of industrialists from both countries.
Researchers at the U.S-based University of Rochester, along with colleagues at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, have designed a way to produce graphene materials using a novel technique: mixing oxidized graphite with bacteria. Their method is reportedly a more cost-efficient, time-saving, and environmentally friendly way of producing graphene materials versus those produced chemically, and could lead to the creation of innovative computer technologies and medical equipment.
From left to right:graphite (Gr), graphene oxide (GO), microbially‐reduced graphene oxide (mrGO), and chemically‐reduced graphene oxide (crGO)
"For real applications you need large amounts," says Anne S. Meyer, an associate professor of biology at the University of Rochester. "Producing these bulk amounts is challenging and typically results in graphene that is thicker and less pure. This is where our work came in". In order to produce larger quantities of graphene materials, Meyer and her colleagues started with a vial of graphite. They exfoliated the graphite-shedding the layers of material-to produce graphene oxide (GO), which they then mixed with the bacteria Shewanella. They let the beaker of bacteria and precursor materials sit overnight, during which time the bacteria reduced the GO to a graphene material.
AIXTRON recently showcased two of its systems, which enable cost effective graphene production for a myriad of applications such as consumer electronics, sensors and photonic applications.
AIXTRON's new 'Neutron' roll to roll system for the production of graphene. Credit: AIXTRON
Graphene Flagship partner AIXTRON introduced results from two of its systems that enable the large-scale production of graphene through chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The Neutron is a roll-to-roll system capable of depositing large areas of graphene on metal foils under ambient conditions; and the CCS 2D system enables wafer-scale production of graphene on insulating wafers, a breakthrough that could speed up the development of new graphene electronics.
GrapheneCA recently announced the development of a novel Mobile Graphene Container System (MGCS), a scalable, modular graphene production system, to help companies manufacture graphene in-house.
The New York-based company, which develops graphene-based technology for industries, said MGCS is available in 40-foot containers that are designed specifically for industrial producers and high-tech applications.
ZEN Graphene Solutions has announced the signing of an initial agreement to in-license certain intellectual properties from a Canadian University that when combined with ZEN’s Albany Graphite, produces low cost, environmentally friendly graphene.
The production process rapidly exfoliates Albany Graphite into few layer graphene (FLG, 2-5 layers) with a conversion efficiency of over 90%. Previous work has reportedly demonstrated that the Albany Graphite was converted to graphene far more efficiently when compared to flake or metamorphic graphite. This advantage was said to be confirmed by recent testing using this new process.
