Graphene production

Liquid metal catalysts have recently been attracting attention for synthesizing high-quality 2D materials facilitated via the catalysts’ perfectly smooth surface. However, the microscopic catalytic processes occurring at the surface are still largely unclear because liquid metals escape the accessibility of traditional experimental and computational surface science approaches. 

An EU-funded collaboration of researchers that included teams from Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, The European Synchrotron- ESRF, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Aarhus University,  Leiden University and Université Grenoble Alpes used novel in situ and in silico techniques to achieve an atomic-level characterization of the graphene adsorption height above liquid Cu, reaching quantitative agreement within 0.1 Å between experiment and theory.

Malaysia-based graphite and single-layer graphene producer, Graphjet Technology (GTI), recently signed a Letter of Offer to build its RM400 million (over USD$90 million) production facility in the Phase 3 of Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park.

Graphjet's patented technology aims to transform palm kernel shell, a waste from palm kernel production, into single-layer graphene, at a significantly lower cost than the current production of single-layer graphene. The production plant is expected to produce 10,000 tonnes of graphite and 60 tonnes of single-layer graphene annually. 

UK-based PlanarTECH offers R&D and production-scale equipment and services for all classes of emerging 2D materials and carbon-based materials such as CNTs and CVD diamonds. In 2020 planarTECH launched a successful equity crowdfunding campaign as it aims to expand its business and enter new markets such as industrial CVD graphene production systems and material production.

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We have recently talked to the company's CEO, J. Patrick Frantz, who gives us the latest business and technology updates from PlanarTECH.

Q: Can you update us on your latest business activities, with a focus on graphene?

We had a very difficult time during the pandemic, as many companies did. From July 2020 through June 2021 we shipped just one CVD system. However, we started to see a resumption of customer activity towards the end of 2021 as labs reopened and people around the world got back to work. For 2022, we’re seeing a complete recovery and are on our way to the best year we’ve ever had in terms of sales.

On 1 July 2020, Versarien announced that the UK Government, via Innovate UK, had granted a £5 million loan to the Company, for a project named G-SCALE, an acronym for Graphene, Seat, Concrete, Arch, Leisure, Elastomer. The award was to facilitate the production of sufficient quantities of graphene to enable commercialization of graphene-enhanced products in these five priority application areas.

Recently, Versarien has provided a summary of G-SCALE progress for each of the relevant segments. 

Researchers from India's SRM Institute of Science and Technology have reported on a natural, environmentally friendly and sustainable surfactant for exfoliating graphene in water.

Aqueous graphene dispersions hold potential for many applications such as printed and paper electronics and polymer composites, but the water’s surface energy tends to be too high to stabilize them. However, surfactants provide adequate repulsive potential against restacking of exfoliated nanosheets in colloidal dispersions to overcome the van der Waal’s attractive forces. The major problem with reported and commercial surfactant resources is their inability to produce micrometer-sized graphene with few defects at high yield with using a minimal amount of economical and sustainable surfactants. 

Sparc Technologies (SPN) has announced kicking off the construction of a modular and scalable manufacturing facility for graphene-based additive products in Adelaide. The company said that commissioning was expected within the first quarter of 2023.

This facility will enable the production of commercial quantities of graphene-based additives and will accommodate large-scale manufacturing to meet customer demand.

Black Swan Graphene has announced it has launched a scoping study to evaluate the feasibility of a larger production scale of graphene products, in partnership with engineering firm Halyard Inc.

The large-scale production engineering study will provide an initial evaluation of the project, including processing plant specifications as well as mechanical, civil, structural, and electrical designs. The facility will be based in the province of Quebec, Canada.

NanoXplore reported its financial results for Q3 2022, with revenues of $27.1 million CAD (up 52% compared to last year). The company reported a loss (EBIDTA) of $1.97 million CAD (down from a loss of $3.7 million CAD last year).

Looking ahead into its FY2023 (which ends on September 2023) NanoXplore expects revenues to reach $110 million. The company also announced a 5-year strategic plan, during which the company will expand its production capacity from its current 4,000 tons to 20,000 tons for graphene and battery materials.

Graphene Manufacturing Group (GMG) has announced that the it has taken a Final Investment Decision ("FID") on Phase 1 of its graphene manufacturing expansion project. The expansion project includes an executed 5 year lease to expand total office and warehouse space to 3,500 square meters, the next generation of the Company's proprietary graphene production technology with enhanced automation, a micro-grid with energy storage component to improve commercial and environmental electricity supply for the production process, and an infrastructure corridor to allow rapid scaling of further graphene manufacturing capacity during future phases of the graphene manufacturing expansion project.

The project will be managed and executed by the Company's engineers along with Wood engineering (the Company's graphene manufacturing scaling engineering service supplier).

Malaysia-based Graphjet Technology aims to list on the NASDAQ, with a projected valuation of $1.49 billion. The company has signed an agreement with Energem Corp (NASDAQ: ENCP), a special-purpose acquisition company that will merge with Graphjet.

Graphjet was established in 2019 in Malaysia. The company produces graphene and graphite from palm kernel shells (a common waste product from the production of palm seed oil). The company targets several applications, including batteries for EVs and power storage.