University of Manchester

Researchers from the University of Manchester, University of Cambridge, Khalifa University and Universidade Federal do Ceará have developed a new device using graphene to transform next-generation technologies in hydrogen fuel cells, computing, and catalysis.

Image credit: Khalifa University 

The team's research shows that the properties of a graphene sheet can be fine-tuned with the help of electric fields to independently host proton and electron currents, thus setting the stage for a device that serves both computer memory and logic functions.

Researchers at the National Graphene Institute and their collaborators have gained understanding into how electric field effects can selectively accelerate coupled electrochemical processes in graphene. Electrochemical processes are essential in renewable energy technologies like batteries, fuel cells, and electrolysers. However, their efficiency is often hindered by slow reactions and unwanted side effects. Traditional approaches have focused on new materials, yet significant challenges remain.

The Manchester team, led by Dr. Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo, has taken a novel approach. They have successfully decoupled the inseparable link between charge and electric field within graphene electrodes, enabling unprecedented control over electrochemical processes in this material. The breakthrough challenges previous assumptions and opens new avenues for energy technologies.

Researchers from the University of Manchester, The Pennsylvania State University, Koç University and Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) have tackled the challenge of control of thermal radiation, demonstrating a new topology-based approach.

The team explained that conventional approaches to tailoring thermal emission using metamaterials are hampered both by the limited spatial resolution of the required subwavelength material structures and by the materials’ strong absorption in the infrared. In their recent work, the scientists developed an approach based on the concept of topology: by changing a single parameter of a multilayer coating, they were able to control the reflection topology of a surface, with the critical point of zero reflection being topologically protected. 

An international team of researchers, led by the University of Manchester, has achieved robust superconductivity in high magnetic fields using a newly created one-dimensional system. Achieving superconductivity in the quantum Hall regime has been a longstanding challenge, which this recent work aimed to address. 

The team followed the conventional route where counterpropagating edge states were brought into close proximity to each other. However, this approach was found to be limited. “Our initial experiments were primarily motivated by the strong persistent interest in proximity superconductivity induced along quantum Hall edge states,” explained University of Mnchester's Dr. Barrier, the paper’s lead author. “This possibility has led to numerous theoretical predictions regarding the emergence of new particles known as non-abelian anyons.”

It was reported that an ambitious project between United Utilities and the University of Manchester to put green concrete to the test in the water sector has taken an important step forward. The University of Manchester’s Graphene Green Concrete is one of the partners taking part in the water company’s latest Innovation Lab – and now the first test pour of the material has taken place.

Graphene Green Concrete was developed by a team at the university as a sustainable alternative to standard concrete. Instead of using virgin aggregate material, the concrete uses 100% recycled aggregate combined with tiny amounts of graphene to reduce its overall carbon impact.

Researchers at the University of Manchester, University of Edinburgh, ICN2, RIVM and the University of the Highlands and Islands have tested the safety and health implications of graphene, revealing that it has the potential to be used without risk to human health.

The study has shown that the use of graphene without harm to the human body is possible, through the carefully controlled inhalation of graphene, shown to have no short-term adverse effects on cardiovascular function.

UK-based Graphene Innovations Manchester (GIM) and Space Engine Systems (SES) from Canada have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate in various areas of SES’s Hello series of Aerospace and Space vehicles, focusing on using graphene for hypersonic applications.

GIM is working on the development and commercialization of advanced graphene-based solutions for composites, particularly in Graphene Space Habitat,
and also Type V hydrogen storage tanks. GIM is the largest Tier 1 partner in the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) at the University of Manchester.

A research team, led by The University of Manchester, have reported a way to use light to accelerate proton transport through graphene, which could advance hydrogen generation technologies.

Proton transport is a key step in many renewable energy technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cells and solar water splitting, and it was also previously shown to be permeable to protons. The recent study has shown that light can be used to accelerate proton transport through graphene, despite the fact that it was previously thought that graphene was impermeable to protons. The researchers found that when graphene is illuminated with light, the electrons in the graphene become excited. These excited electrons then interact with protons, accelerating their transport through the material.

Concretene has announced three successful UK government funding bids, two through Innovate UK, totaling £1.18 million (around USD$1,430,000), and one through EPSRC and the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials for £79,000 (about USD$95,000).

The product – a graphene-enhanced admixture for concrete that reduces embodied carbon – is being developed for commercial roll-out by Nationwide Engineering Research & Development and The University of Manchester. The grant awards relate to Concretene’s core research program, from raw material supply through to construction applications.

HydroGraph Clean Power, a manufacturer of graphene, has announced it is expanding its application development capabilities to meet growing global demand by establishing a partnership with the University of Manchester’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Center (GEIC) commencing in October of 2023. 

This strategic collaboration will aim to significantly enhance and ‘de-risk’ HydroGraph's application development capabilities. The GEIC, formed to commercialize graphene-related technologies and products, specializes in rapidly scaling up applications involving composites, building materials, membranes, inks, and coatings. To support their mission the £60 million GEIC facility was established with significant lab and engineering space that houses state-of-the-art testing and application development equipment, supported by experienced and knowledgeable team. Hydrograph will scale up this critical application development work by leveraging the resources at the GEIC with a team of commercially focused scientists and engineers to support industry adoption of its "99.8% pristine fractal graphene".