By Ty Dinwoodie Aug.26/13

Walked in this morning to my desk covered in WSJ copies of a story entitled Wonder Material Ignites Scientific Gold Rush about graphene. For the record, I had already read it and it’s my professional commitment to narrate and navigate how this amazing material has ignited a scientific land rush. Indeed this is a gold rush that is sending companies and universities racing to understand, the patent cavalcade is on (partnered with Hydro-Québec, Grafoid Inc. recently filed for a major graphene patent for its MesoGraf™) — as entrepreneurs everywhere eye potential profits from the “skinnier, more glamorous cousin of ordinary pencil lead.”

So, graphene… what is it, how is it made and what can it do? And this patent-pending graphene frenzy, what products are leading the charge that may make graphene more financially viable for commercial-scale application?

Graphene 101, for those of you new to the hottest trend in most scientific journals, is a material derived from standard graphite, like the kind found in everyday pencils. But when graphite is shaved to extreme thinness; it is the thinnest material known, and behaves in truly astonishing ways. Exceedingly strong, light and flexible, it is exceptional at conducting electricity and heat, and can absorb and emit light.

Tracy is constantly telling me that graphene can make a MIG invisible and is interested in the impact on solar energy, but let’s consider the realities regarding graphene and how its widespread use still face hurdles. For example, graphene is still far too expensive for mass markets, it doesn’t lend itself to use in some computer-chip circuitry and scientists are still trying to find better ways to turn it into usable form. Currently, graphene is a complicated technology to deliver and the biggest factor holding graphene back is cost (the quality of graphene affects the price). But that may soon change, if Grafoid has anything to say about it. Graphene’s widespread usage is no longer an issue of if, but when.

So let’s ask an expert. When I spoke to Gary Economo, President and CEO of both Focus Graphite Inc. (TSXV: FMS | OTCQX: FCSMF) and Grafoid Inc., he stated: “Graphene science is sitting on the precipice of commercialization. The markets haven’t locked on to graphene’s value yet because industry hasn’t been able to distinguish one producer’s graphene from another – until now. Grafoid’s patent-pending MesoGraf now sets the global standard for a stable, reliable and affordable graphene that can be adapted to most any industrial material or product development for economic scalability. The industrial world is knocking on our door now to close the commercialization loop that began nearly 10 years ago with Professors Geim’s and Novoselov’s graphene discovery. What started with the mechanical exfoliation (the scotch-tape method) of graphene from graphite in their U.K. labs, has grown into an industry of its own with the potential for unlimited and exponential growth.”

I asked Economo how MesoGraf would impact the current graphene industry. “We see MesoGraf as the catalyst that leads graphene out of obscurity and into the marketplace because of its matchless, high-energy density and its economic scalability on a pan-industrial basis,” explains Economo. “As the supplier of Grafoid’s source material – raw, unprocessed graphite from Focus Graphite’s high-grade Lac Knife resource – we have great expectations for MesoGraf’s disruptive technological impact as the global standard for graphene. Graphene does indeed have the ability to change our lives, so, standby; the story is about to unfold and there’s a market waiting for a really good news story.”

There is a race underway to move graphene swiftly from the research lab to the consumer marketplace, driven by demand from industries where such super materials are required (i.e. energy storage, electronics, communications, aerospace, automotive, coatings and paints, sensors, solar, oil, etc.). Admittedly, it could be many years before graphene is widely found in consumer products… but the race to get there first is already on.

Ty Facts:

• “Atoms might struggle to get through graphene, but electrons don’t,” according to Sir Geim. “Graphene will make possible experiments in high-speed quantum physics that even scientists are CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) can’t manage."