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New service will accelerate UK’s graphene industry

17 Jul 2018

New service launched by the National Graphene Institute and the National Physical Laboratory will help the UK cash in on graphene

A new service has been launched by the National Graphene Institute (NGI) at the University and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) which will help the UK to cash in on graphene by providing the missing link for industrialisation of the material.

Commercially, graphene comes in several forms, such as flakes in a powder or liquid, each with variation in their properties, yield, and reproducibility of the product. Material standardisation is crucial to industry uptake but, as with all new technologies, international standards for graphene are in their infancy. As such, manufacturers are unable to verify that the graphene that they are working with has the desired properties. In fact, as it is unregulated, companies cannot even be sure what material they are buying, a point recently highlighted by the FCA in a warning for investors.

The new graphene characterisation service, led by the organisations leading the standard for graphene, will allow companies to understand the properties of the material they are working with in greater detail. By providing this service, NPL and NGI hope to accelerate the industrialisation of graphene in the UK – forging the missing link between graphene research and development, and its application in next generation products.

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Manchester, The University of Manchester said:

“In order for industry to benefit directly from the opportunities of incorporating graphene into new technologies businesses need to have confidence in the material they are dealing with. This new nationally run service will enable an accurate understanding of graphene which is still just fourteen years young.

“New materials always have a hurdle of quality production, repeatability and functionalisation to overcome. The breadth of expertise and understanding at the National Graphene Institute in tandem with the National Physical Laboratory’s capability offering accurate material assessment will be critical to accelerate commercialisation of products and applications.”