Directa Plus has recently been awarded a patent in Italy to make golf balls using its G+ graphene enhancement. G+ compounds in golf balls can reportedly make professionals hit them even further while less skilled players will enjoy improved swing and shot control.
"Using our G+ product in golf balls, for both the amateur and professional game is an exciting opportunity to enter a large sporting market," said Giulio Cesareo, the firm's chief executive.
First Graphene is collaborating with Flinders University to launch 2D Fluidics - a company that will aim to commercialize the Vortex Fluidic Device (VFD). 2D Fluidics is 50% owned by FGR and 50% by Flinders University’s newly named Flinders Institute for NanoScale Science and Technology.
The VFD was invented by the Flinders Institute for NanoScale Science and Technology’s Professor Colin Raston and enables new approaches to producing a wide range of materials such as graphene and sliced carbon nanotubes. The key intellectual property used by 2D Fluidics comprises two patents around the production of carbon nanomaterials, assigned by Flinders University.
Haydale, the global advanced materials group, has filed a patent application in the UK for a its PATit anti-counterfeiting technology, which uses proprietary software codes and a specialty graphene-based, transparent conductive ink. The graphene-based ink can be printed onto products and then ‘read’ by a device to prove their authenticity
The advanced materials group stated that it wants to initially target the anti-counterfeiting market as it is expected to double over the next four years to be worth more than US$200 billion by 2021. Haydale added that the filing of the application is an important in allowing it to begin discussions on potential commercial applications of the technology.
Ionic Industries recently announced a process for economically mass-producing graphene micro supercapacitors and added that its directors and key personnel have taken direct stakes in the company.
Ionic stated that since it published the positive results on its graphene micro planar supercapacitors 2 years before, the company has been working toward developing a device that not only demonstrates similar performance but can be produced at scale to deliver an economically viable device.
Apple was granted a new patent (filed in 2015) that details an audio device that uses a diaphragm made from a graphene-enhanced composite material. Apple's graphene membrane can be used in a speaker, microphone or headphone device. The patent specifically includes an image of an iPhone device as an example application.
Apple explains that as devices become smaller and lighter, it is ever more challenging to provide high quality audio using conventional materials - and graphene may improve the mechanical response of the audio device. In addition, in some cases, the use of graphene or graphene flake materials may reduce or eliminate the need for additional external damping.