Nixene Journal Volume 9 Issue 5 Article 19

Evidence is mounting in support of the low toxicity of graphene. The Swiss federal research laboratories have added to the body of evidence this month (p.16). They explored the effects of dusts generated by graphene enhanced polymers when they are abraded and found no toxic effects and minor respiratory inflammation. This means the dusts created during the recycling process of graphene enhanced polymer composites (in this case, nylon PA6) represent a low health hazard. As a regular reader, you will know that graphene is being trialled as an additive to enhance the life of asphalt roads. In the UK Kent County Council and the University of Nottingham have just released data from the field trials on roads in the county (p.33). They found that graphene: • Extends the surface lifetime by approximately 2.5 times to last up to 25 years • Over 65-year asset life, a carbon saving of 23kg CO2/m2 of road surface • Created a 32% reduction in cost over the lifetime of the asset Graphene applications supported by data get more of our attention. GMG has commissioned its graphene enhanced battery plant in Australia. These batteries have a lower energy density than lithium ion and nickel metal batteries. This might not sound important, but aluminium and graphene are common materials that can be made with low environmental impact when compared with lithium, cobalt & nickel. A new electric vehicle has been launched this month. UK hypercar manufacturer has presented its Apricale hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (HFCEV). The car has a top speed of over 300km/hr and a range over 500km. Graphene enhanced polymer composites are used to make the hydrogen fuel tank. The car does need batteries but because these are for supporting power it needs much less than a normal EV. This raises an interesting possibility, could lower energy density battery technology such as aluminium ion be used in conjunction with fuel cell technology to make better, sustainable electric vehicles? All these developments use graphene powders. Meanwhile large area sheet CVD graphene makes steady progress. A team at the University of Texas has made a ‘graphene tattoo’ sensor that can be applied to the skin to continuously monitor blood pressure. Using graphene means there is no inflammatory response from the wearer, and the sensor provides the highest sensitivity rating. Continuing the CVD theme, we interview the CEO of one of the leading graphene manufacturing companies, Jeff Draa provides insight into how he makes his CVD graphene and how they monitored customers to help them focus on the applications most likely to drive commercial success. You can find out about all this and more in this fascinating issue, dear reader please read on… Adrian Nixon 1st July 2022

This month, five years ago, we created the first issue of this journal. Since then, we have created a fresh issue every month. Each has unique content. The pace of change in the world of graphene and 2D materials has not let up, if anything the pace is accelerating. This month, graphene nanoplate powders have been used in more commercial applications. Graphene enhanced concrete continues to make the news. Nationwide Engineering and the GEIC have been busy. The foundations for a significant residential development in the UK have been laid with Concretene. A parking bay next to the GEIC building in Manchester UK has also been laid and is the first external structure laid with graphene enhanced concrete and no reinforcing material. Clear story headlines are emerging about graphene enhanced concrete; Concretene • 30% reduction in CO2 emissions • 20% reduction in overall costs Graphene powders have been used to make heat spreaders for electronics. A high-end gaming smart phone and fast access SSD device has appeared on the market this month. Normal heat spreaders are too big for compact device designs, and this is where graphene has a unique advantage because it can create thin and thermally conducting components. Still with graphene nanoplate, a team in Australia has made a pressure sensor for shoe soles. The graphene creates an electrical signal from the pressure created by the wearer. This transmits a signal to a cloud-based AI that analyses the patterns in the data and can warn of conditions such as dementia and diabetes. This being our 5th Anniversary edition we have two special features on CVD graphene. The first examines the state of the art of CVD graphene manufacturing and explores the production cost trend. And finally, we have another special feature (p.9). We normally analyse research papers and condense them down to one page. This time we have created an academic quality paper that shows where CVD graphene manufacturing could be headed. We make the case for multi-layer large-area single crystal graphene. Current thinking is that this material is just graphite. We propose that this material is something entirely new and could even be the foundation for a whole new industrial revolution. Adrian Nixon, 1st October 2021