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Graphene currently has no commercial applications, but they may be coming as more uses for the material are discovered.
Long hailed as the “wonder material” of the 21st century, a key issue with graphene is that it lacks commercial applications.
Essentially, while some companies are producing graphene, it’s expensive to make it on a scale large enough to mass produce graphene-containing products. As a result, graphene’s exceptional qualities — which include being both a better electricity than copper and impermeable to gases — remain largely confined to the lab.
For that reason, investors interested in the graphene space are generally excited to hear about new applications for the material. After all, if more uses for it are discovered, it becomes more likely that it will become possible to mass produce exciting graphene-containing products.
Without further ado, here are a few new graphene applications that have recently made headlines:
- Pillared graphene — Rice University reported this week that researchers have discovered that placing nanotube pillars between sheets of graphene could allow for the creation of “hybrid structures with a unique balance of strength, toughness and ductility throughout all three dimensions.” Explaining the significance of the find, materials scientist Rouzbeh Shahsavari commented, “[t]hese hybrid structures impart new properties and functionality that are absent in their parent structures — graphene and nanotubes.”
- Superconducting graphene — Also this week, Live Science said that University of British Columbia scientists have created the first-ever superconducting graphene by coating the material with lithium atoms. According to Andrea Damascelli, principal investigator of the study, that’s something many groups have tried for years to do. She added that she sees superconducting graphene potentially being used in “extraordinarily sensitive magnetic sensors known as SQUIDs, or superconducting quantum interference devices.”
It will certainly be interesting to watch for future developments on those fronts and to see how commercial applications for graphene develop.
Company news
Graphene 3D Lab (TSXV:GGG) announced at the end of August that it’s restructured its executive leadership. Ian Klassen, formerly a director at the company, has been appointed president and COO, while Elena Polyakova will now serve as co-CEO with Daniel Stolyarov. Polyakova was formerly COO and a director at Graphene 3D Lab, while Stolyarov was a director, as well as president and CEO.
“We have bolstered the management team to ensure our founders have the support they need to maximize future opportunities for Graphene 3D,” said Jason Martin, Graphene 3D Lab’s company director, at the time of the appointments.
More recently, Haydale Graphene Industries (LSE:HAYD) put out two interesting pieces of news. First, on September 7, it announced that its composites division has entered into a collaborative, 18-month research project that was awarded to it by the National Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme. The project involves two end users: Airbus UK and BAE Systems (LSE:BA).
Then, on September 10, Haydale’s composites division signed a letter of intent with Huntsman Advanced Materials (Switzerland). The letter of intent is the companies’ first step toward agreeing to a joint development and commercialization agreement.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Graphene 3D Lab is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.