The Graphene-Info newsletter (January 10, 2023)

Nationwide Engineering Research and Development (NERD) has raised £8 million (over USD$9.5 million) in seed funding as it looks to commercialize a graphene-enhanced building material called Concretene. The funding came from the venture capital firm LocalGlobe.

NERD, a company founded by Nationwide Engineering Group, developed Concretene with the goal of creating a stronger and more sustainable product than traditional concrete by adding a graphene formulation into the hydration process of concrete development. NERD said that when deployed on active construction projects, Concretene was as much as 30-50% stronger than standard concrete.

Realme has announced its upcoming Realme GT Neo 5 model, which will boast a super fast-charging tech and a graphene-based cooling system.

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The new model will come with a PS3 fire-proof design, 13 temperature sensors, and the largest 6580mm² graphene phase heat dissipation material.

A team of researchers from Columbia University, University of Virginia, University of Rhode Island, Amherst College, Barnard College and Harvard University have discovered a new type of carbon material: graphullerene.

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The material is a new 2D form of carbon made up of layers of linked fullerenes peeled into ultrathin thin flakes from a larger graphullerite crystal—similarly to the way graphene is peeled from crystals of graphite.

Project Arrow, a collaboration between nearly 60 different companies in Canada that is led by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA), aims to develop an all-Canadian electric SUV. A few days ago, at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) event in Las Vegas, a fully operational prototype was unveiled.

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Reports suggest that the Canadian government contributed CAD$5 million (over USD$3.7 million) toward the electric compact SUV’s development. Ontario pledged CAD$1.8 million (over USD$1.3 million) and Quebec said it would allocate CAD$1.4 million (over USD$1 million) over 18 months to small- and medium-sized businesses that make connected or autonomous zero-emission automotive components and systems, including those looking to get involved with Project Arrow.

Specialty chemicals company Mito Material Solutions  and Cardea Bio recently announced significant progress in the international efforts to standardize graphene together with the National Institute of Standards (NIST). Brett Goldsmith, PhD, chief technology officer (CTO) at Cardea, recently returned from the International Standards Organization (ISO) meeting that took place at the UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL), during which graphene material documentary standards reportedly took important steps forward.

“We see a bright future for diagnostic tools based on graphene electronics, but we’re not waiting for that future — we’re making it happen!” Goldsmith says. “Part of that means driving reliability and predictability in the graphene material industry. That’s why we are committed to supporting the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO TC 229.”

First Graphene Limited has entered into a joint development agreement (JDA) with fellow ASX-listed company Suvo Strategic Minerals Limited, to research and develop low emission cement and concrete products.

The agreement aims to investigate the potential for further improvements in CO2 emission reductions by combining the already successful outcomes achieved from the addition of graphene to cement and concrete with Suvo’s metakaolin (a pozzolanic material derived from fine kaolinite clay that can be used as a partial replacement for clinker in cement) to deliver strength and performance improvements to concrete and mortar products.