Although scientists knew one atom thick, two-dimensional crystal graphene existed, no-one had figured out how to extract it from graphite, until Professor Geim and Professor Novoselov’s groundbreaking work in Swagֱ�� in 2004.

Geim and Novoselov frequently held ‘Friday night experiments’, where they would play around with ideas and experiments that weren’t necessarily linked to their usual research. It was through these experiments that the two first isolated graphene, by using sticky tape to peel off thin flakes of graphite, ushering in a new era of material science.

Their seminal paper ‘, has since been cited over 40,000 times, making it one of the most highly referenced scientific papers of all time.

What Andre and Kostya had achieved was a profound breakthrough, which would not only earn the pair a Nobel Prize in 2010 but would revolutionise the scientific world.

The vast number of products, processes and industries for which graphene could significantly impact all stem from its extraordinary properties. No other material has the breadth of superlatives that graphene boasts:

• It is many times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible
• It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent
• It is the world’s first two-dimensional material and is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

It’s areas for application are endless: transport, medicine, electronics, energy, defence, desalination, are all being transformed by graphene research.

In biomedical technology, graphene’s unique properties allow for groundbreaking biomedical applications, such as targeted drug delivery and DIY health-testing kits. In sport, graphene-enhanced running shoes deliver more grip, durability and 25% greater energy return than standard running trainers – as well as the world’s first .

Speaking at the , hosted by Swagֱ��, Professor Sir Andre Geim said: “If you have an electric car, graphene is there. If you are talking about flexible, transparent and wearable electronics, graphene-like materials have a good chance of being there. Graphene is also in lithium ion batteries as it improves these batteries by 1 or 2 per cent.”

The excitement, interest and ambition surrounding the material has created a ‘graphene economy’, which is increasingly driven by the challenge to tackle climate change, and for global economies to achieve zero carbon.

At the heart of this economy is Swagֱ��, which has built a model research and innovation community, with graphene at its core. The enables academics and their industrial partners to work together on new applications of graphene and other 2D materials, while the accelerates lab-market development, supporting more than 50 spin-outs and numerous new technologies.

Professor James Baker,  CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ�� said: “As we enter the 20^th anniversary since the first discovery of graphene, we are now seeing a real ‘tipping point’ in the commercialisation of products and applications, with many products now in the market or close to entering. We are also witnessing a whole new eco-system of businesses starting to scale up their products and applications, many of which are based in Swagֱ��."

What about the next 20 years?

The next 20 years promise even greater discoveries and Swagֱ�� remains at the forefront of exploring the limitless graphene yields.

Currently, researchers working with INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, with funding from the European Commission’s Graphene Flagship, are developing brain implants from graphene which could enable precision surgery for diseases such as cancer.

Researchers have also developed wearable sensors, based on a 2D material called hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), which have the potential to change the way respiratory health is monitored.

As for sustainability, Dr Qian Yang is using nanocapillaries made from graphene that could lead to the development of a brand-new form of , while others are looking into Graphene’s potential in grid applications and storing wind or solar power. Graphene is also being used to reinforce , to reduce cement use – one of the leading causes of global carbon dioxide.

Newly-appointed Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair, Professor Rahul Nair, is investigating graphene-based membranes that can be used as water filters and could transform access to clean drinking water.

Speaking at the World Academic Summit, Professor Sir Andre Geim said: “Thousands of people are trying to understand how it works. I would not be surprised if graphene gets another Nobel prize or two given there are so many people who believe in this area of research.”

Discover more

To hear Andre’s story, including how he and Kostya discovered the wonder material in a Friday night lab session, visit: 

To find out more about Swagֱ��’s work on graphene, visit: 

To discover our world-leading research centre, or commercial accelerator, visit

To find out how we’re training the next generation of 2D material scientists and engineers, visit:

• .

The international team, which also included Penn State College of Engineering, Koc University in Turkey and Vienna University of Technology in Austria, has developed a unique interface that localises thermal emissions from two surfaces with different geometric properties, creating a “perfect” thermal emitter. This platform can emit thermal light from specific, contained emission areas with unit emissivity.

, professor of 2D device materials at Swagֱ��, explains, “We have demonstrated a new class of thermal devices using concepts from topology — a branch of mathematics studying properties of geometric objects — and from non-Hermitian photonics, which is a flourishing area of research studying light and its interaction with matter in the presence of losses, optical gain and certain symmetries.”

The team said the work could advance thermal photonic applications to better generate, control and detect thermal emission. One application of this work could be in satellites, said co-author Prof Sahin Ozdemir, professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State. Faced with significant exposure to heat and light, satellites equipped with the interface could emit the absorbed radiation with unit emissivity along a specifically designated area designed by researchers to be incredibly narrow and in whatever shape is deemed necessary.   

Getting to this point, though, was not straight forward, according to Ozdemir. He explained part of the issue is to create a perfect thermal absorber-emitter only at the interface while the rest of the structures forming the interface remains ‘cold’, meaning no absorption and no emission.

“Building a perfect absorber-emitter—a black body that flawlessly absorbs all incoming radiation—proved to be a formidable task,” Ozdemir said. However, the team discovered that one can be built at a desired frequency by trapping the light inside an optical cavity, formed by a partially reflecting first mirror and a completely reflecting second mirror: the incoming light partially reflected from the first mirror and the light which gets reflected only after being trapped between the two mirrors exactly cancel each other. With the reflection thus being completely suppressed, the light beam is trapped in the system, gets perfectly absorbed, and emitted in the form of thermal radiation.

To achieve such an interface, the researchers developed a cavity stacked with a thick gold layer that perfectly reflects incoming light and a thin platinum layer that can partially reflect incoming light. The platinum layer also acts as a broadband thermal absorber-emitter. Between the two mirrors is a transparent dielectric called parylene-C.

The researchers can adjust the thickness of the platinum layer as needed to induce the critical coupling condition where the incoming light is trapped in the system and perfectly absorbed, or to move the system away from the critical coupling to sub- or super-critical coupling where perfect absorption and emission cannot take place.

“Only by stitching two platinum layers with thicknesses smaller and larger than the critical thickness over the same dielectric layer, we create a topological interface of two cavities where perfect absorption and emission are confined. Crucial here is that the cavities forming the interface are not at critical coupling condition,” said first author M. Said Ergoktas, a research associate at Swagֱ�� 

The development challenges conventional understanding of thermal emission in the field, according to co-author Stefan Rotter, professor of theoretical physics at the Vienna University of Technology, “Traditionally, it has been believed that thermal radiation cannot have topological properties because of its incoherent nature.”

According to Kocabas, their approach to building topological systems for controlling radiation is easily accessible to scientists and engineers.  

“This can be as simple as creating a film divided into two regions with different thicknesses such that one side satisfies sub-critical coupling, and the other is in the super-critical coupling regime, dividing the system into two different topological classes,” Kocabas said.

The realised interface exhibits perfect thermal emissivity, which is protected by the reflection topology and “exhibits robustness against local perturbations and defects,” according to co-author Ali Kecebas, a postdoctoral scholar at Penn State. The team confirmed the system’s topological features and its connection to the well-known non-Hermitian physics and its spectral degeneracies known as exceptional points through experimental and numerical simulations.

“This is just a glimpse of what one can do in thermal domain using topology of non-Hermiticity. One thing that needs further exploration is the observation of the two counterpropagating modes at the interface that our theory and numerical simulations predict,” Kocabas said.

The National Graphene Institute (NGI) is a world-leading graphene and 2D material centre, focussed on fundamental research. Based at Swagֱ��, where graphene was first isolated in 2004 by Professors Sir Andre Geim and Sir Kostya Novoselov, it is home to leaders in their field – a community of research specialists delivering transformative discovery. This expertise is matched by £13m leading-edge facilities, such as the largest class 5 and 6 cleanrooms in global academia, which gives the NGI the capabilities to advance underpinning industrial applications in key areas including: composites, functional membranes, energy, membranes for green hydrogen, ultra-high vacuum 2D materials, nanomedicine, 2D based printed electronics, and characterisation.

Superconductivity, the ability of certain materials to conduct electricity with zero resistance, holds profound potential for advancements of quantum technologies. However, achieving superconductivity in the quantum Hall regime, characterised by quantised electrical conductance, has proven to be a mighty challenge.

The research, published this week (24 April 2024) in , details extensive work of the Swagֱ�� team led by Professor Andre Geim, Dr Julien Barrier and Dr Na Xin to achieve superconductivity in the quantum Hall regime. Their initial efforts followed the conventional route where counterpropagating edge states were brought into close proximity of each other. However, this approach proved to be limited.

"Our initial experiments were primarily motivated by the strong persistent interest in proximity superconductivity induced along quantum Hall edge states," explains Dr Barrier, the paper's lead author. "This possibility has led to numerous theoretical predictions regarding the emergence of new particles known as non-abelian anyons."

The team then explored a new strategy inspired by their earlier work demonstrating that boundaries between domains in graphene could be highly conductive. By placing such domain walls between two superconductors, they achieved the desired ultimate proximity between counterpropagating edge states while minimising effects of disorder.

"We were encouraged to observe large supercurrents at relatively ‘balmy’ temperatures up to one Kelvin in every device we fabricated," Dr Barrier recalls.

Further investigation revealed that the proximity superconductivity originated not from the quantum Hall edge states propagating along domain walls, but rather from strictly 1D electronic states existing within the domain walls themselves. These 1D states, proven to exist by the theory group of Professor Vladimir Falko’s at the National Graphene Institute, exhibited a greater ability to hybridise with superconductivity as compared to quantum Hall edge states. The inherent one-dimensional nature of the interior states is believed to be responsible for the observed robust supercurrents at high magnetic fields.

This discovery of single-mode 1D superconductivity shows exciting avenues for further research. “In our devices, electrons propagate in two opposite directions within the same nanoscale space and without scattering", Dr Barrier elaborates. "Such 1D systems are exceptionally rare and hold promise for addressing a wide range of problems in fundamental physics."

The team has already demonstrated the ability to manipulate these electronic states using gate voltage and observe standing electron waves that modulated the superconducting properties.

���� is fascinating to think what this novel system can bring us in the future. The 1D superconductivity presents an alternative path towards realising topological quasiparticles combining the quantum Hall effect and superconductivity,” concludes Dr Xin. "This is just one example of the vast potential our findings holds."

20 years after the advent of the first 2D material graphene, this research by Swagֱ�� represents another step forward in the field of superconductivity. The development of this novel 1D superconductor is expected to open doors for advancements in quantum technologies and pave the way for further exploration of new physics, attracting interest from various scientific communities.

The is a world-leading graphene and 2D material centre, focussed on fundamental research. Based at Swagֱ��, by Professors Sir Andre Geim and Sir Kostya Novoselov, it is home to leaders in their field – a community of research specialists delivering transformative discovery. This expertise is matched by £13m leading-edge facilities, such as the largest class 5 and 6 in global academia, which gives the NGI the capabilities to advance underpinning industrial applications in key areas including: composites, functional membranes, energy, membranes for green hydrogen, ultra-high vacuum 2D materials, nanomedicine, 2D based printed electronics, and characterisation.

The sensor, based on a 2D material called hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), is significantly more sensitive and accurate than previous designs. It can detect even subtle variations in breath patterns, such as those caused by asthma or sleep apnoea.

"Our sensor is like a highly accurate microphone for your breath," says lead author , a researcher at Swagֱ��. "It can pick up on the tiniest changes in airflow, providing valuable physiological information on an individual, for example related to their cardiac, neurological and pulmonary conditions as well as certain types of illness. "

How it works

The active material in the sensor is made of a hexagonal boron nitride ink, which has been designed by supramolecular chemistry to provide enhanced sensibility to water molecules. The ink is deposited between electrodes in the form of a thin film and then an alternating electric field is applied to the electrodes. When you inhale and exhale, the electrical signal of the film changes based on the local humidity, showing a characteristic “V shape” associated to the full breathing cycle. Changes in the V shape can therefore be attributed to changes in the exhaling-inhaling process, for example due to coughing, fever, runny and stuffy nose.

The new sensor has several advantages over existing technologies. It is more sensitive, meaning it can detect smaller changes in breath. It is also faster, with a response time of just milliseconds. And it is not affected by temperature or other environmental factors, making it more reliable for real-world use. Furthermore, it can be easily integrated onto face masks.

Potential applications

The researchers believe that their sensor has the potential to revolutionise the way we monitor respiratory health, and it could be used to track the effectiveness of respiratory treatments.

"This sensor has the potential to make a real difference in the lives of people with respiratory problems," says Dr. Liming Chen, Postdoc in who has worked on this project. "It could help us to diagnose diseases earlier, track the progression of diseases, and help making personalised treatment plans."

The researchers are now working on extending the technology to achieve high sensitivity and selectivity towards selected biomarkers found in the breath that are associated to diseases, for example respiratory ammonia.

They hope to see their technology in the hands of patients and healthcare providers in the near future.

The National Graphene Institute (NGI) is a world-leading graphene and 2D material centre, focussed on fundamental research. Based at Swagֱ��, where graphene was first isolated in 2004 by Professors Sir Andre Geim and Sir Kostya Novoselov, it is home to leaders in their field – a community of research specialists delivering transformative discovery. This expertise is matched by £13m leading-edge facilities, such as the largest class 5 and 6 cleanrooms in global academia, which gives the NGI the capabilities to advance underpinning industrial applications in key areas including: composites, functional membranes, energy, membranes for green hydrogen, ultra-high vacuum 2D materials, nanomedicine, 2D based printed electronics, and characterisation.

The recent partnership between , the , , and (GGT), supported by the and , has paved the way for the development of our University spinout, Graphene Innovations Swagֱ��’s GIM Concrete in the UAE. The product, enhanced by graphene and made with recycled plastic, promises to revolutionise the construction industry by reducing CO2 emissions and showcasing the circular economy in action. The signing ceremony, attended by key stakeholders including His Excellency Sharif Al Olama, Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs, Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, symbolises a united effort to address climate challenges.

Waleed Al Ali, Chairman of GGT, sees this collaboration as a major milestone, stating, “This is an important step towards using GIM developed technology to build a Graphene-based GIGA Factory in the UAE.”

His Excellency Sharif Al Olama commented on the partnership, stating, “This MOU symbolises how various stakeholders can work together to address the challenges we are facing today when it comes to climate change, this is an excellent example of not only addressing the challenge but rather coming up with a commercially and economically viable solution.”

The CEO of GIM, Dr. Vivek Koncherry, expressed pride in the commercialisation of their graphene-based solutions, stating, “We are proud to see the commercialisation of our award-winning and groundbreaking graphene and AI-based solutions for sustainable applications that have been backed by decades of research undertaken in Swagֱ��, United Kingdon.”

In another initiative, Levidian and Tadweer are collaborating to decarbonise methane emissions in Abu Dhabi. The partnership aims to install Levidian’s LOOP technology at one of Abu Dhabi’s largest landfill sites. This first-of-its-kind pilot project will convert waste methane into hydrogen and carbon-negative graphene, with estimated emissions reduction of around 40%. If successful, the pilot could be scaled up to address emissions from an estimated 1.2 billion cubic meters of landfill gas over the next decade.

John Hartley, CEO of Levidian, highlighted the significance of the project, stating, “The utilisation of Levidian’s LOOP technology will allow Tadweer to clean up emissions while creating a revenue stream from the production of hydrogen and graphene that will ensure that the project pays for itself.”

Eng. Ali Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and CEO of Tadweer, emphasised the importance of the project in the context of a circular economy, saying, “In the lead up to COP28, it’s more important now than ever for Tadweer to become a global model for a circular economy alongside partners such as Levidian, as we create the foundations for a sustainable future.”

These partnerships emphasise the University of Swagֱ��'s commitment to fostering innovation and sustainable practices. Professor James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, summed up the sentiment, "We take immense pride in witnessing our partners and spinouts within our graphene eco-system achieve significant milestones, and it's an honour to host their team at our MASDAR building, the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) in Swagֱ��. These achievements showcase the potency of graphene and 2D materials, propelling sustainable solutions and catalysing innovation and business growth through impactful partnerships. I eagerly anticipate the next stages of development and the successful journey of bringing these transformative products to market in the coming months to create a more sustainable future."

Read more on the individual announcements here: |

• Atomically clean interfaces: The new stamp design has enabled the creation of atomically clean interfaces between stacked 2D materials over extended areas, a significant improvement over existing techniques.
• Reduced strain inhomogeneity: The rigidity provided by the new stamp design has been shown to greatly reduce strain inhomogeneity in assembled stacks.
• Scalability: The team has demonstrated clean transfer of mm-scale areas of 2D materials, paving the way for the use of these materials in next-generation electronic devices.

Researchers at the University of Swagֱ�� have made a breakthrough in the transfer of 2D crystals, paving the way for their commercialisation in next-generation electronics. This ground-breaking technique, detailed in a recent publication, utilises a fully inorganic stamp to create the cleanest and most uniform 2D material stacks to date.

The team, led by from the , employed the inorganic stamp to precisely 'pick and place' 2D crystals into van der Waals heterostructures of up to 8 individual layers within an ultra-high vacuum environment. This advancement resulted in atomically clean interfaces over extended areas, a significant leap forward compared to existing techniques and a crucial step towards the commercialisation of 2D material-based electronic devices.

Moreover, the rigidity of the new stamp design effectively minimised strain inhomogeneity in assembled stacks. The team observed a remarkable decrease in local variation – over an order of magnitude – at 'twisted' interfaces, when compared to current state-of-the-art assemblies.

The precise stacking of individual 2D materials in defined sequences holds the potential to engineer designer crystals at the atomic level, with novel hybrid properties. While numerous techniques have been developed to transfer individual layers, almost all rely on organic polymer membranes or stamps for mechanical support during the transition from their original substrates to the target ones. Unfortunately, this reliance on organic materials inevitably introduces 2D material surface contamination, even in meticulously controlled cleanroom environments.

In many cases, surface contaminants trapped between 2D material layers will spontaneously segregate into isolated bubbles separated by atomically clean areas. "This segregation has allowed us to explore the unique properties of atomically perfect stacks," explained Professor Gorbachev. "However, the clean areas between contaminant bubbles are generally confined to tens of micrometres for simple stacks, with even smaller areas for more complex structures involving additional layers and interfaces."

He further elaborated, "This ubiquitous transfer-induced contamination, along with the variable strain introduced during the transfer process, has been the primary obstacle hindering the development of industrially viable electronic components based on 2D materials."

The polymeric support used in conventional techniques acts as both a source of nanoscale contamination and an impediment to efforts to eliminate pre-existing and ambient contaminants. For instance, adsorbed contamination becomes more mobile at high temperatures and may be entirely desorbed, but polymers cannot typically withstand temperatures above a few hundred degrees. Additionally, polymers are incompatible with many liquid cleaning agents and tend to outgas under vacuum conditions.

"To overcome these limitations, we devised an alternative hybrid stamp, comprising a flexible silicon nitride membrane for mechanical support and an ultrathin metal layer as a sticky 'glue' for picking up the 2D crystals," explained, second author of the study. "Using the metal layer, we can carefully pick up a single 2D material and then sequentially 'stamp' its atomically flat lower surface onto additional crystals. The van der Waals forces at this perfect interface cause adherence of these crystals, enabling us to construct flawless stacks of up to 8 layers."

After successfully demonstrating the technique using microscopic flakes mechanically exfoliated from crystals using the 'sticky tape' method, the team scaled up the ultraclean transfer process to handle materials grown from the gas phase at larger sizes, achieving clean transfer of mm-scale areas. The ability to work with these 'grown' 2D materials is crucial for their scalability and potential applications in next-generation electronic devices.

Recognising the significance of the breakthrough, Swagֱ�� has filed a pending patent application to safeguard both the method and apparatus involved. The research team is now eager to collaborate with industry partners to assess the effectiveness of this method for the wafer-scale transfer of 2D films from growth substrates. They invite expressions of interest from equipment manufacturers, semiconductor foundries and electronic device manufacturers with 2D materials in their product roadmap. For enquiries, please contact contact@uominnovationfactory.com

The National Graphene Institute (NGI) is a world-leading graphene and 2D material centre, focussed on fundamental research. Based at Swagֱ��, where graphene was first isolated in 2004 by Professors Sir Andre Geim and Sir Kostya Novoselov, it is home to leaders in their field – a community of research specialists delivering transformative discovery. This expertise is matched by £13m leading-edge facilities, such as the largest class 5 and 6 cleanrooms in global academia, which gives the NGI the capabilities to advance underpinning industrial applications in seven key areas: composites, functional membranes, energy, membranes for green hydrogen, ultra-high vacuum 2D materials, nanomedicine, and characterisation.

Proton transport is a key step in many renewable energy technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cells and solar water splitting, and it was also previously shown to be permeable to protons by Swagֱ�� scientists.

A new study published in has shown that light can be used to accelerate proton transport through graphene. Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms that is an excellent conductor of both electricity and heat. However, it was previously thought that graphene was impermeable to protons.

The researchers found that when graphene is illuminated with light, the electrons in the graphene become excited. These excited electrons then interact with protons, accelerating their transport through the material.

This discovery could have a significant impact on the development of new renewable energy technologies. For example, it could lead to the development of more efficient hydrogen fuel cells and solar water-splitting devices.

"Understanding the connection between electronic and ion transport properties in electrode-electrolyte interfaces at the molecular scale could enable new strategies to accelerate processes central to many renewable energy technologies, including hydrogen generation and utilisation," said lead researcher Dr. Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo.

Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms is an excellent electronic conductor and, unexpectedly, was also found to be permeable to protons. However, its proton and electronic properties were believed to be completely unrelated. Now, the team measured both graphene’s proton transport and electronic properties under illumination and found that exciting electrons in graphene with light accelerates proton transport.

The smoking gun evidence of this connection was the observation of a phenomenon known as ‘Pauli blocking’ in proton transport. This is an unusual electronic property of graphene, never observed in proton transport. In essence, it is possible to raise the energy of electrons in graphene to such an extent that graphene no longer absorbs light – hence the ‘blocking’. The researchers demonstrate that the same blocking takes place in light-driven proton transport by raising the energy of electrons in graphene. This unexpected observation demonstrates that graphene’s electronic properties are important to its proton permeation properties.

Dr. Shiqi Huang co-first author of the work said, “We were surprised that the photo response of our proton conducting devices could be explained by the Pauli blocking mechanism, which so far had only been seen in electronic measurements. This provides insight into how protons, electrons and photons interact in atomically thin interfaces”.

“In our devices, graphene is being effectively bombarded with protons, which pierce its electronic cloud. We were surprised to see that photo-excited electrons could control this flow of protons”, commented Dr. Eoin Griffin co-first author.

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. 

When Gerdau sought an ideal location to work on disruptive ideas and solutions with the foremost experts in the field, the choice was clear—Swagֱ��, a city renowned as the "home of graphene" and a historical hotbed of innovation since the industrial revolution. Gerdau's strategic plan laid the foundation for this momentous collaboration, with a vision to diversify revenue streams through new businesses and products complementary to their core steel chain. Among these value-adding components, graphene stood out as a material with transformative potential.

Joining hands with the GEIC in early 2019, Gerdau became an early adopter in the commercialisation journey of graphene and Gerdau Graphene emerged as the group's first advanced materials business, operating independently with its own governance and resources to foster rapid and autonomous growth. The collaboration, underscored by Gerdau's strategic decision to deploy its Research and Development team to the GEIC, not only fuelled technical innovation but also expedited their prototyping processes. The knowledge and resources from the GEIC played a pivotal role in this advancement, and the company witnessed a significant share of revenues.

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ�� and Professor of Practice, said:

"Having Gerdau as a partner to the GEIC has been rewarding for all concerned – this is a company that has a strong heritage and also continues to pioneer through Gerdau Graphene. Gerdau’s work to functionalise graphene has created a supply of material that is industry-ready and is tuned to optimise performance in the specific application requested by the customer, and we are delighted that the partnership has been part of this journey.

The unique advantage of being located here in Swagֱ��, has enabled Gerdau to tap into the cutting-edge knowledge and resources available at the GEIC and the broader University, expediting our prototyping processes and creating an entirely new portfolio of graphene-enhanced additives and materials, opening up new markets and commercialisation opportunities."

The collaboration has allowed Gerdau to  extend applications of graphene to products within Gerdau's broader "ecosystem," reaching beyond the steel industry. The initial commercial applications were implemented in maintenance paints for the 16 Brazilian factories, packaging for construction nails, and mineral additives for projects involving key customers and partners in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of the country.

Alexandre Corrêa, Executive Director of Gerdau Graphene,  also shared his satisfaction for the ongoing partnership: "Our partnership with the GEIC marked our starting point in this journey into specialty chemicals and the development of novel additives with graphene. Our first research into material dispersion and our first application development into industrial paints were all started at the GEIC. From these projects we expanded into a vast network of over 6 laboratories in the UK and Brazil and strategic partnerships with clients and graphene suppliers having Swagֱ�� and the GEIC as a critical hub for our technical development. This network has turned graphene into a reality here in Latin America, leading to the development of several novel family of Additives and Masterbatches which we are currently selling in the region."

Gerdau Graphene has positioned itself as the first solution provider and developer of industrial scale additives focused on the incorporation of graphene in the Americas, bringing a unique blend of products and services to the market. This strategic move enables the company to make significant contributions to the development of graphene-enhanced products including polymers, paints and coatings, mineral additives, chemical additives, lubricants, and masterbatches. The incorporation of graphene in their products gives Gerdau Graphene a competitive edge, ensuring unmatched performance gains and benefits compared to conventional additives, in addition to generating a significant impact on sustainability,

The five-year partnership between Gerdau and GEIC facilitated rapid progress in the development of new graphene applications, showcasing the potential of collaborative efforts in driving technological innovation. Through their collective pursuit of disruptive ideas and inventive solutions, both companies have contributed significantly to the advancement of the graphene industry. As they continue to work in tandem, members of the GEIC are scheduled to visit Gerdau's facilities in Brazil in November, further solidifying their enduring partnership and underlining their commitment to developing graphene applications.

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. #ResearchBeacons

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ�� has been conferred the title of Professor of Practice at Swagֱ�� in recognition of his significant leadership and contributions to graphene and 2D materials. 

Under his leadership, Baker has realised the ambition of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) creating something that is not replicated in UK academia.  

Opened in 2019, a year into his tenure of CEO, the GEIC accelerates lab to market development, seeding a fast-growing graphene economy. In just five years it has supported more than 50 spin outs and launched many new technologies, products and applications with industrial partners – including a graphene-enhanced concrete, which reduces C02 emissions by up to 30%, a revolutionary hydrogel for vertical farming, and a process to extract lithium from water for use in the battery-making industry. It had also created a significant impact on the local economy including new jobs, businesses and in gross added value to the Swagֱ�� region.    

Baker has overseen the consolidation of the highest-density graphene research and innovation community in the world, comprising more than 350 experts spanning various disciplines, including physics, materials science, chemistry, neuroscience. This community includes academics, engineers and application experts, who bridge the gap between academia and the real-world needs of businesses, and innovation leaders, investment experts, IP advisors, plus operational and specialist technical staff.  

This community, which is celebrated for fast tracking Technology Readiness Levels, centres around two bespoke buildings: the GEIC, and the £62m academic-led National Graphene Institute (NGI). 

The NGI is the epicentre for pioneering 2D discovery, and hosts class 100 and class 1000 cleanrooms, creating the world’s largest academic space of its kind. It is home to Nobel Prize-winning Professor Sir Andre Geim, who first isolated graphene in 2004 with Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov and who continues to support a world-leading community of fundamental science researchers. 

By driving the University’s reputation for commercialisation, Baker has ensured Swagֱ�� has maintained its reputation at the forefront of the global materials research revolution. This reputation has resulted in ambitious collaboration, such as the partnership with Khalifa University, to tackle the global challenges of water filtration and desalination, construction, energy storage, and lightweighting of materials. 

Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Swagֱ��, said: “The isolation of graphene at the University in 2004 created the opportunity to transform a wide range of sectors through its application. James has played a key role in establishing the pathway to commercialisation and social benefit and anchoring that in the home of graphene.

“As a result of his leadership, our University is firmly at the heart of the graphene lab-to-market success story and is the UK’s lead knowledge partner in the commercialisation of 2D materials.” 

James Baker, CEO at Graphene@Swagֱ��, added: “I am honoured and humbled to receive this title, not least because the success of Graphene@Swagֱ�� has been built on the backs and brains for a university-wide community of innovators and pioneers. I am lucky to be counted among them. 

“While it's nice to reflect,  now is the time to embark on the next chapter. We have proven graphene can deliver prosperity and progress. Now, we have to accelerate its adoption to tackle the greatest challenge of our time - climate change. We have to show that graphene and 2D material innovation doesn’t have to come at a premium but can play its part by delivering sustainability without compromise. Our focus is on driving innovation in support of sustainability and working in partnerships with governments, small businesses and large industry partners, including at COP28.” 

The title of Professor in Practice is bestowed upon experienced professionals, who share their skills and knowledge. They allow universities to directly connect with business practice and public policy, to enable actionable, positive impact on society. 

Baker has led the business-facing development of graphene and 2D materials at Swagֱ�� since 2018. 

He joined Swagֱ�� in 2014 as the Graphene Business Director at the NGI. Previously, he spent 25 years in industry where, most recently, he was Vice-President of Technology Collaboration Programmes and Managing Director of the Advanced Technology Centres for in the UK. 

Nanofluidics, the study of fluids confined within ultra-small spaces, offers insights into the behaviour of liquids on a nanometer scale. However, exploring the movement of individual molecules in such confined environments has been challenging due to the limitations of conventional microscopy techniques. This obstacle prevented real-time sensing and imaging, leaving significant gaps in our knowledge of molecular properties in confinement.

A team led by Professor Radha Boya in the Department of Physics at Swagֱ�� makes nanochannels which are only one-atom to few-atom thin using two-dimensional materials as building blocks.

Prof Boya said: “Seeing is believing, but it is not easy to see confinement effects at this scale. We make these extremely thin slit-like channels, and the current study shows an elegant way to visualise them by super-resolution microscopy.”

The study's findings are published in the journal .

The partnership with the EPFL team allowed for optical probing of these systems, uncovering hints of liquid ordering induced by confinement.

Thanks to an unexpected property of boron nitride, a graphene-like 2D material which possesses a remarkable ability to emit light when in contact with liquids, researchers at EPFL's Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology (LBEN) have succeeded in directly observing and tracing the paths of individual molecules within nanofluidic structures.

This revelation opens the door to a deeper understanding of the behaviours of ions and molecules in conditions that mimic biological systems.

Professor Aleksandra Radenovic, head of LBEN, explains: "Advancements in fabrication and material science have empowered us to control fluidic and ionic transport on the nanoscale. Yet, our understanding of nanofluidic systems remained limited, as conventional light microscopy couldn't penetrate structures below the diffraction limit. Our research now shines a light on nanofluidics, offering insights into a realm that was largely uncharted until now."

This newfound understanding of molecular properties has exciting applications, including the potential to directly image emerging nanofluidic systems, where liquids exhibit unconventional behaviours under pressure or voltage stimuli.

The research's core lies in the fluorescence originating from single-photon emitters at the hexagonal boron nitride's surface.

Doctoral student Nathan Ronceray, from LBEN, said: “This fluorescence activation came unexpected as neither hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) nor the liquid exhibit visible-range fluorescence on their own. It most likely arises from molecules interacting with surface defects on the hBN crystal, but we are still not certain of the exact mechanism,”

Dr Yi You, a post-doc from Swagֱ�� engineered the nanochannels such that the confining liquids mere nanometers from the hBN surface which has some defects.

Surface defects can be missing atoms in the crystalline structure, whose properties differ from the original material, granting them the ability to emit light when they interact with certain molecules.

The researchers further observed that when a defect turns off, one of its neighbours lights up, because the molecule bound to the first site hopped to the second. Step by step, this enables reconstructing entire molecular trajectories.

Using a combination of microscopy techniques, the team monitored colour changes to successfully demonstrate that these light emitters emit photons one at a time, offering pinpoint information about their immediate surroundings within around one nanometer. This breakthrough enables the use of these emitters as nanoscale probes, shedding light on the arrangement of molecules within confined nanometre spaces.

The potential for this discovery is far-reaching. Nathan Ronceray envisions applications beyond passive sensing.

He said: “We have primarily been watching the behaviour of molecules with hBN without actively interacting with, but we think it could be used to visualize nanoscale flows caused by pressure or electric fields.

“This could lead to more dynamic applications in the future for optical imaging and sensing, providing unprecedented insights into the intricate behaviours of molecules within these confined spaces.”

The project received funding from the European Research Council, Royal Society University Research Fellowship, Royal Society International Exchanges Award and EPSRC New Horizons grant.

A decade ago, scientists at Swagֱ�� demonstrated that graphene is permeable to protons, nuclei of hydrogen atoms. The unexpected result started a debate in the community because theory predicted that it would take billions of years for a proton to permeate through graphene’s dense crystalline structure. This had led to suggestions that protons permeate not through the crystal lattice itself, but through the pinholes in its structure.

Now, writing in , a collaboration between the University of Warwick, led by Prof Patrick Unwin, and Swagֱ��, led by Dr Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo and Prof Andre Geim, report ultra-high spatial resolution measurements of proton transport through graphene and prove that perfect graphene crystals are permeable to protons. Unexpectedly, protons are strongly accelerated around nanoscale wrinkles and ripples in the crystal.

The discovery has the potential to accelerate the hydrogen economy. Expensive catalysts and membranes, sometimes with significant environmental footprint, currently used to generate and utilise hydrogen could be replaced with more sustainable 2D crystals, reducing carbon emissions, and contributing to Net Zero through the generation of green hydrogen.

The team used a technique known as to measure minute proton currents collected from nanometre-sized areas. This allowed the researchers to visualise the spatial distribution of proton currents through graphene membranes. If proton transport took place through holes as some scientists speculated, the currents would be concentrated in a few isolated spots. No such isolated spots were found, which ruled out the presence of holes in the graphene membranes.

Drs Segun Wahab and Enrico Daviddi, leading authors of the paper, commented: “We were surprised to see absolutely no defects in the graphene crystals. Our results provide microscopic proof that graphene is intrinsically permeable to protons.”

Unexpectedly, the proton currents were found to be accelerated around nanometre-sized wrinkles in the crystals. The scientists found that this arises because the wrinkles effectively ‘stretch’ the graphene lattice, thus providing a larger space for protons to permeate through the pristine crystal lattice. This observation now reconciles the experiment and theory.

Dr Lozada-Hidalgo said: “We are effectively stretching an atomic scale mesh and observing a higher current through the stretched interatomic spaces in this mesh – mind-boggling.”

Prof Unwin commented: “These results showcase SECCM, developed in our lab, as a powerful technique to obtain microscopic insights into electrochemical interfaces, which opens up exciting possibilities for the design of next-generation membranes and separators involving protons.”

The authors are excited about the potential of this discovery to enable new hydrogen-based technologies.

Dr Lozada-Hidalgo said, "Exploiting the catalytic activity of ripples and wrinkles in 2D crystals is a fundamentally new way to accelerate ion transport and chemical reactions. This could lead to the development of low-cost catalysts for hydrogen-related technologies."

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. 

The Mayor of Greater Swagֱ��, Andy Burnham, inaugurated the conference, which sees more than 30 companies exhibiting their revolutionary graphene technologies. More than 200 experts from academia and industry will also deliver lectures at the conference. 

“We’re proud to welcome businesses and researchers from across the world to Greater Swagֱ�� for Graphene 2023”, said the mayor of Greater Swagֱ��, Andy Burnham. “Our city-region has been the driving force behind cultural and scientific innovations for over 200 years, and it’s fitting that we host the world’s 2D materials community as we approach 20 years since graphene was first discovered. I hope delegates get a sense of the exciting work happening right here in Greater Swagֱ�� to commercialise advanced materials.” 

The conference is held in the newly opened , the new home of Engineering and Materials at the University. Unrivalled in scale as a hub of engineering and materials expertise here in the UK, it combines Swagֱ��'s industrial heritage with new, purpose-built facilities, ideal for discovery and solving some of the world's most pressing issues. Delegates are also be offered tours of the and the , the flagship facilities for graphene and 2D materials research and development.  

Professor Vladimir Falko, the Director of the NGI, said, “Swagֱ��’s National Graphene Institute and Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre stay at the forefront of graphene and 2D materials research and commercialisation, and we are glad that a major pan-European graphene conference is coming to the UK, despite all the uncertainties created by Brexit.” 

Professor Aravind Vijayaraghavan, the lead local organiser added, “We are placing special emphasis on attracting industrial and academic partnerships from around the world to invest and collaborate with the University, and this conference is the ideal opportunity for us to showcase our world-leading facilities and expertise in advanced materials and manufacturing which is key to a green, equitable and healthy future for us all.” 

The conference takes place at the University of Swagֱ�� on 27-30 June 2023. The conference marks 20 years since the first isolation of graphene at the University, by Professor Sir Andre Geim and Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov, who were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics “for ground-breaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene”. 

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons.

in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the research has shown that graphene with nanoscale corrugations of its surface can accelerate hydrogen splitting as well as the best metallic-based catalysts. This unexpected effect is likely to be present in all two-dimensional materials, which are all inherently non-flat.

The Swagֱ�� team in collaboration with researchers from China and USA conducted a series of experiments to show that non-flatness of graphene makes it a strong catalyst. First, using ultrasensitive gas flow measurements and Raman spectroscopy, they demonstrated that graphene’s nanoscale corrugations were linked to its chemical reactivity with molecular hydrogen (H2) and that the activation energy for its dissociation into atomic hydrogen (H) was relatively small.

The team evaluated whether this reactivity is enough to make the material an efficient catalyst. To this end, the researchers used a mixture of hydrogen and deuterium (D2) gases and found that graphene indeed behaved as a powerful catalyst, converting H2 and D2 into HD. This was in stark contrast to the behaviour of graphite and other carbon-based materials under the same conditions. The gas analyses revealed that the amount of HD generated by monolayer graphene was approximately the same as for the known hydrogen catalysts, such as zirconia, magnesium oxide and copper, but graphene was required only in tiny quantities, less than 100 times of the latter catalysts.

“Our paper shows that freestanding graphene is quite different from both graphite and atomically flat graphene that are chemically extremely inert. We have also proved that nanoscale corrugations are more important for catalysis than the ‘usual suspects’ such as vacancies, edges and other defects on graphene’s surface” said Dr Pengzhan Sun, first author of the paper.

Lead author of the paper Prof. Geim added, “As nanorippling naturally occurs in all atomically thin crystals, because of thermal fluctuations and unavoidable local mechanical strain, other 2D materials may also show similarly enhanced reactivity. As for graphene, we can certainly expect it to be catalytically and chemically active in other reactions, not only those involving hydrogen.”

“2D materials are most often perceived as atomically flat sheets, and effects caused by unavoidable nanoscale corrugations have so far been overlooked. Our work shows that those effects can be dramatic, which has important implications for the use of 2D materials. For example, bulk molybdenum sulphide and other chalcogenides are often employed as 3D catalysts. Now we should wonder if they could be even more active in their 2D form”.

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. #ResearchBeacons

The spotlight comes in a report entitled, which has been authored by Dr Alexis Brown for the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI). Dr Brown is Head of Global Education Insights at the British Council and is calling for UK universities to leverage global connections to help drive local growth.

The report highlights where this collaboration is already being achieved. For example, the strategic, long-term relationship-building between Swagֱ�� and regional civic stakeholders plus international partners, such as those based in Abu Dhabi.

This type of relationship has, for example, led to an ambitious agreement between the University and Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa University of Science and Technology which aims to deliver a funding boost to graphene innovation that will help tackle the planet’s big challenges. This project has also won praise from senior figures in the UK government.

Much of the focus of this international collaboration on advanced materials has been around the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) which is a unique innovation accelerator based at Swagֱ��.

And, as well as supporting collaboration in the Middle East, the HEPI report also points out that the “… GEIC’s development has in turn generated further funding from a range of international and domestic partners, including the Australian-based supplier of graphene products First Graphene, the Brazilian graphene startup Gerdau Graphene, surface-functionalised graphene specialists Haydale and advanced engineering materials group Versarien.

“GEIC will also form a cornerstone element of the new £1.5 billion , alongside the University’s , which focuses on industrial biotechnology and industry-facing biomanufacturing…”

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: ����’s fantastic to see that Swagֱ��’s graphene innovation ecosystem has been highlighted in a national policy report that outlines how universities can bring inward investment into the regional economies they serve.

���� has been five years since the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre opened its doors and our success in taking 2D materials from lab-to-market is clearly demonstrated by the many international partnerships we have formed - and the significant investment that these partners are making to drive graphene-inspired R&D in our region.

“These international research and innovation collaborations are creating new products, new businesses and new jobs. This all adds new value to our regional economy - so boosting the UK’s ‘levelling up’ ambitions.”

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. #ResearchBeacons

Haydale were early adopters and among the very first partners to sign up and join the GEIC when it opened its doors and embarked on its journey of commercialisation in 2018. At the time interest in graphene was growing in the commercial world; but it remained to be seen just how ready industry was in adopting graphene into existing products – or go one step further and use it to develop new and disruptive technologies.

Now, as the partnership enters a sixth year both organisations are delighted to see the progress working in collaboration has brought to the industry, particularly through the adoption of plasma functionalisation technology and commercialisation of graphene and other 2D materials, as James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ�� explains:

“Too often graphene has been seen as a magic dust that can be sprinkled into a product to transform its performance. Even if you’re lucky and achieve positive results, this ad hoc approach is usually non-replicable or able to be developed with a reliable quality control to earn market confidence.

“Haydale’s pioneering work to functionalise graphene has created a supply of material that is industry-ready and is tuned to optimise performance in the specific application requested by the end-user and we are delighted that the partnership has been part of this journey.”

Alongside their industry leading test facilities, as part of the partnership agreement, the GEIC will continue to use one of Haydale’s HT60 plasma reactors, which has been fundamental in growing the knowledge of functionalisation and its importance in unlocking the potential of graphene and other 2D materials. The clean chemistry process offers a way of activating inert materials, so they perform in application but in an environmentally-friendly way.

Access to unique engineering knowhow, world-class science and specialist R&D capability has seen the maturity of joint developments between Haydale and the GEIC most notably the graphene-enhanced carbon composite body panels for the BAC Mono R road-legal sports car, technology that Haydale has now seen application in composite tooling with Prodrive and resin infusion for sports and leisure. More recently, the teams have developed novel coating processes combining Haydale’s prepreg and ink products and helped to optimise Haydale’s 3D printing product range for volume application.

Commenting on the continued partnership, Keith Broadbent CEO of Haydale said: “We have been working with the GEIC from the very beginning to enhance graphene and nanomaterials and bring them into a commercial space. I am excited to see what the next stage of the partnership will bring. We have seen a seismic shift from graphene push to market pull as more customers know what they want. Customers are driving momentum and together we can continue the commercialisation journey.”

This is a sentiment shared by James, who added: “Five years on from the opening of the GEIC the market landscape for nanomaterials has matured quickly, and advanced materials are recognised as being critical in providing solutions to the big global challenges.

“Haydale’s vision has always been to provide the graphene supply chain with a premium product that can add real value – and they know exactly how to do this.”

The ongoing partnership will continue to build trust with wider industry and provide a solid foundation for the adoption of graphene and other 2D materials as advanced materials become increasingly critical in providing solutions to some of the biggest global challenges.

The researchers have shown that the formation of these graphene particles is governed by a complex interplay between different forces such as viscosity, surface tension, inertia and electrostatics. Prof Vijayaraghavan said: “We have undertaken a systematic study to understand and explain the influence of various parameters and forces involved in the particle formation. Then, by tailoring this process, we have developed very efficient particles for adsorptive purification of contaminants from water”.

Graphene oxide (GO), a functionalised form of graphene which forms a stable dispersion in water, has many unique properties, including being a liquid crystal. Individual GO sheets are one atom thin, and as wide as the thickness of human hair. However, to be useful, they need to be assembled into complex 3-dimensional shapes which preserves their high surface area and surface chemistry. Such porous 3-dimensional assemblies of GO are called aerogels, and when filled with water, they are called hydrogels.

The researchers used a second liquid crystal material called CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide), to aggregate GO flakes into small particles of graphene oxide hydrogels, without needing to reduce them to graphene. This was achieved by dropping the GO dispersion in water in the form of small droplets into a solution of CTAB in water. When the GO droplets hit the surface of the CTAB solution, they behave very similarly to when a jet of hot smoke hits cold air. The GO drop flows into the CTAB solution in the form of a ring, or toroid, because of differences in the density and surface tension of the two liquids. 

By controlling various parameters of this process, the researchers have produced particles in the shape of spheres (balls), toroids (donuts) and intermediate shapes that resemble jellyfish. Dr Yizhen Shao, a recently graduated PhD student and lead author of this paper, said: “we have developed a universal phase diagram for the formation of these shapes, based on four dimensionless numbers – the weber, Reynolds, Onhesorge and Weber numbers, representing the inertial, viscous, surface tension and electrostatic forces respectively. This can be used to accurately control the particle morphology by varying the formation parameters.”

The authors highlight the significance of these particles in water purification. Kaiwen Nie, a PhD student and co-author of the paper, said: “We can tune the surface chemistry of the graphene flakes in these particles to extract positively or negatively charged contaminants from water. We can even extract uncharged contaminants or heavy metal ions by appropriately functionalising the graphene surface.”

Grant Shapps, The Secretary of State for the UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), has recently been on a visit to the Middle East, which included the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he met representatives from a partnership between Swagֱ�� and UAE’s Khalifa University.

The ambitious Swagֱ��-Khalifa partnership is part of the Research & Innovation Center for Graphene and 2D Materials (RIC-2D) which is looking at ways to apply graphene and related advanced materials to technologies that will help make our world more sustainable, including water desalination, emission-busting construction materials, energy storage and lightweighting applications.

Grant Shapps visited the state-of-the-art research facilities and on his , the Secretary of State said: “Graphene can be used in everything from touchscreens to reinforcing steel. Made first in Swagֱ��, its importance is now being realised around the world. I enjoyed seeing how Khalifa University is further developing graphene uses for the future, in partnership with Swagֱ��.”

James Baker, CEO at Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: ���� was great to co-host the Secretary of State and the UK delegation on their visit to meet our partners at Khalifa University.

���� was a very positive meeting that focused on graphene products and applications. Our conversation covered the heritage of the right through to the creation of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, a Swagֱ�� facility set up in partnership with UAE-based Masdar to accelerate the commercialisation of graphene and related 2D materials.

“We also discussed our joint work with the RIC-2D programme and the ambitious commercial opportunities that are supporting the drive towards a sustainable future, including our latest project around creating membrane technology in support of clean water.”

The Kahlifa delegation meeting the Secretary of State also included Professor Sir John O’Reilly, President of Khalifa University; Dr Arif Al Hammadi, Executive Vice President; Dr Steve Griffiths, Senior Vice President for Research and Development and Professor of Practice; Fahad Almaskari, Engagement Director; Fahad Alabsi, Associate Director, Commercialization, RIC-2D Research Center.

During Grant Shapps’ visit to the region the . The Clean Energy Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has now been signed by the two nations and will support the .

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. #ResearchBeacons

NERD is a standalone company, spun out from , formerly Tier 2 partners of the GEIC and responsible for the initial development of Concretene, a graphene-enhanced admixture for concrete that saves significantly on CO2 emissions and overall project costs.

In December, to help drive the programme of research and development required to bring Concretene to full commercial use.

The Tier 1 agreement provides for use of a dedicated lab within the Masdar Building, state-of-the-art concrete testing facilities and access to the unrivalled academic and engineering expertise in nanomaterials housed at Swagֱ��, the home of graphene.

Co-founder of NERD Alex McDermott is a civil engineering graduate of the University and is excited about his return to North Campus to deliver what he hopes will be the start of a new generation of sustainable construction materials.

“I’m a Swagֱ�� lad from Failsworth and I did my degree here, so it’s great to be back and helping to design solutions for an industry that urgently needs to decarbonise,” he says.

“We’re looking to build on the work we’ve already done with the GEIC in lab trials and real-world projects and take Concretene on to the next stage of full commercial rollout. There’s still a journey to go on - R&D in this area is challenging - but the partnerships we’re building with the University and with high-profile industry clients give us the best chance of success.”

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: “We have been working with Nationwide Engineering from the very beginning to help develop Concretene – and therefore delighted to welcome NERD to the GEIC as a Tier 1 partner. This is an important milestone in this ambitious project and one we can all be very proud of.

“In the past 18 months, we have rapidly gone from lab to pilot stage - and then scaled up to create ‘living labs’, including a pioneering pour just outside the GEIC. But we are still at a relatively early stage along the road to commercialisation.

“This new Tier 1 partnership will greatly help Concretene achieve its full potential to deliver a game-changing material to help us build more sustainably in the future – we look forward to taking this programme to the next stage of delivery.” 

NERD envisions a three-year journey to the roll-out of Concretene to the wider construction industry, alongside technical partner Arup – the globally renowned provider of engineering and design services for the built environment - and leading infrastructure bodies including Heathrow and Swagֱ�� Airports, Network Rail, National Highways and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

These early adopters will see immediate benefits through reductions in embodied carbon, while assisting in the programme of laboratory work and large-scale field trials that will ultimately prove the reliability and reproducibility needed for successful commercial deployment of Concretene.

Matthew Lovell, Director at Arup, said: “Continued innovation in the production of concrete and leaner design techniques are needed to support the construction industry’s journey towards net zero carbon emissions.

“Arup is extremely interested in Concretene’s potential to support transformative change in the built environment. Imagine what concrete with both enhanced engineering performance and substantially reduced carbon impact could contribute to our industry.”

Professor Bill Sampson, Chief Scientific Officer, GEIC, said: “I’m delighted to see Nationwide joining the GEIC as a Tier 1 partner. I look forward to working with them, with the support of academic colleagues from across the University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, to better understand and deliver the full potential promised by graphene-enhanced cementitious materials.”

Main picture: (l-r) Matthew Lovell, Director at Arup; Alex McDermott, co-founder NERD; Rob Hibberd, co-founder NERD; Dave Evans, Chief Financial Officer, NERD; Alan Beck, Head of Communications, NERD

Hebbian learning is a well-known learning mechanism, it is the process when we ‘get used’ to doing an action. Similar to what occurs in neural networks, the researchers were able to show the existence of memory in two-dimensional channels which are similar to atomic-scale tunnels with heights varying from several nanometers down to angstroms (10^-10 m). This was done using simple salts (including table salt) dissolved in water flowing through nanochannels and by the application of voltage (< 1 V) scans/pulses.

The study spotlights the importance of the recent development of ultrathin nanochannels. Two types of nanochannels were used in this study. The ‘pristine channels’ were from the Swagֱ�� team led by , which are obtained by the assembly of 2D layers of MoS₂. These channels have little surface charge and are atomically smooth. ’s group at ENS developed the ‘activated channels’, these have high surface charge and are obtained by electron beam etching of graphite.

An important difference between solid-state and biological memories is that the former works by electrons, while the latter have ionic flows central to their functioning. While solid-state silicon or metal oxide based ‘memory devices’ that can ‘learn’ have long been developed, this is an important first demonstration of ‘learning’ by simple ionic solutions and low voltages. “The memory effects in nanochannels could have future use in developing nanofluidic computers, logic circuits, and in mimicking biological neuron synapses with artificial nanochannels”, said co-lead author Prof. Lyderic Bocquet.

Co-lead author Prof. Radha Boya, added that “the nanochannels were able to memorise the previous voltage applied to them and their conductance depends on their history of the voltage application.” This means the previous voltage history can increase (potentiate in terms of synaptic activity) or decrease (depress) the conduction of the nanochannel. Dr Abdulghani Ismail from the National Graphene Institute and co-first author of the research said, “We were able to show two types of memory effects behind which there are two different mechanisms. The existence of each memory type would depend on the experimental conditions (channel type, salt type, salt concentration, etc.).” 

Paul Robin from ENS and co-first author of the paper added, “the mechanism behind memory in ‘pristine MoS₂ channels’ is the transformation of non-conductive ion couples to a conductive ion polyelectrolyte, whereas for ‘activated channels’ the adsorption/desorption of cations (the positive ions of the salt) on the channel’s wall led to the memory effect.” 

Dr Theo Emmerich from ENS and co-first author of the article also commented, “our nanofluidic memristor is more similar to the biological memory when compared to the solid-state memristors”. This discovery could have futuristic applications, from low-power nanofluidic computers to neuromorphic applications.

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. #ResearchBeacons

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President & Vice-Chancellor of Swagֱ��, and Professor Sir John O’Reilly, President, Khalifa University (pictured above) officially signed a contract between the two institutions during a VIP visit by a Swagֱ�� delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Senior officials from both universities were present at the signing (pictured below).

This international partnership will further accelerate Swagֱ�� and Abu Dhabi’s world-leading research and innovation into graphene and other 2D materials. The Research & Innovation Center for Graphene and 2D Materials (RIC-2D), based in Khalifa University, is part of a strategic investment programme supported by the Government of Abu Dhabi, UAE. 

Growing international partnership

This partnership will support expediting the development of the RIC-2D at Khalifa University as well as help building capability in graphene and 2D materials in collaboration with Graphene@Swagֱ��, a community that includes the academic–led National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the commercially-focused Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), a pioneering facility already backed by the Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy company Masdar.

The historic agreement will bring together the vision of the two universities to tackle some of the globe’s biggest challenges, such as providing clean drinking water for millions of people and supporting a circular ‘green economy’ in all parts of the world.

Graphene – originally isolated at Swagֱ��, the global ‘home of graphene’ – has the potential to deliver transformational technologies. The focus of the Khalifa–Swagֱ�� partnership will be on key themes, with a priority to meet the most immediate of global challenges, including  climate change and the energy crisis. These flagship areas are:

●&�Բ�����;         Water filtration and desalination – graphene and 2D materials are being applied to next generation filtration technologies to significantly boost their effectiveness and efficiency to help safeguard the world’s precious supply of drinking water

●&�Բ�����;         Construction – graphene is helping to develop building materials that are much more sustainable and when applied at scale can expect to slash global CO2 emissions

●&�Բ�����;         Energy storage – applications are being developed across the energy storage sector to produce more efficient batteries, with greater capacity and higher performance, and other energy storage systems vital to a circular ‘green economy’

●&�Բ�����;         Lightweighting of materials – the use of graphene and 2D materials to take weight out of vehicles, as well as large structures and infrastructure, will also be a key to building a more sustainable future.

The investment is expected to be allocated towards joint projects. The full scope and budgets for projects under this new framework agreement remain to be determined in the months ahead. The proposal will see dedicated space for the Khalifa University’s RIC-2D within the GEIC, which is based in the Masdar Building at Swagֱ��, to deliver rapid R&D and breakthrough technologies. Researchers from Khalifa University will have dedicated lab space in the GEIC where they can work alongside Swagֱ��’s applications experts and access in-house facilities and equipment.

Knowledge exchange

As well as the research and innovation activity, the RIC-2D programme will support the development of people, including early-career researchers who will benefit from the real-world experience of working on the joint R&D programme. Also, there will be opportunities for post-graduate students, including the exchange of PhD students and researchers (see Fact File below).

Professor Sir John O’Reilly, President, Khalifa University, said: “This Khalifa University-University of Swagֱ�� collaboration is greatly to be welcomed. It has all the hallmarks of a most successful approach to inspiring and nurturing outstanding research, innovation and enterprise in graphene to be taken forward to the benefit of the wider community.”

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President & Vice-Chancellor of Swagֱ��, said: “We look forward to a long and productive partnership with Khalifa University that will realise the potential of graphene to address global challenges including water and energy security and, above all, sustainability.”

Dr Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University, said: “We are delighted to enter into this partnership with Swagֱ�� and encourage innovation in graphene through a pipeline of projects, as well as focus on transferring technology towards commercialization. Through this agreement, we will continue to not only focus our research activities on existing flagship projects in water filtration, construction, energy storage and composites but also expand to new areas. This combination of virtual and in-person collaborations will also include exchange of PhD students and sponsored labs within the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) at Swagֱ��.”

Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Swagֱ��, said: “Our excellent relationship with our partners in Abu Dhabi, including Khalifa University and Masdar, has been vital in the success of the world-leading graphene research and innovation activities at Swagֱ��, especially in driving forward the commercialisation of 2D materials in our facilities based in the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre. This new investment will deliver a game-changing step change in our lab-to-market ambitions - and will accelerate the translation of graphene in an unprecedented way.”

Professor Hassan Arafat, Senior Director, RIC-2D, said: “The overarching goal of RIC-2D is to be a catalyst for economic growth in the UAE, by enabling industrial and public entities within the country to utilize graphene and other 2D materials in new technologies that add economic value and solve pressing societal challenges such as water scarcity and greenhouse emissions. Therefore, the center will support a range of fundamental and translational research projects, in addition to commercialization and technology transfer activities. Graphene@Swagֱ�� has accumulated significant experience doing the same in the UK over the past decade. Hence, they were naturally identified as one of RIC-2D’s most strategic partners.”

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, explained: “We have built a unique model of innovation for advanced materials in Greater Swagֱ�� by successfully attracting regional, national and international investment.

“The RIC-2D programme will be a significant funding boost for UK-based graphene research and commercialisation. It is set to significantly accelerate the work that is already happening in our ecosystem and help with the application and commercialisation of 2D materials at a rate much faster than you would normally expect for a revolutionary new material like graphene.

“This provides an opportunity to fast-track technologies that are urgently needed to tackle immediate challenges like climate change or the energy crisis. Swagֱ�� and Khalifa University will play a key role in connecting our ambitions by synchronising new research with key industry and supply-chain companies across a range of sectors.

“Our lab-to-market model will link up fundamental research with applied research and ultimately be part of a pipeline delivering new, market-ready technologies.  The programme will also provide industry-standard equipment and capabilities for the rapid scale-up and pilot production of prototypes.”

Graphene@Swagֱ��’s world-class facilities and resources are supported by internationally renowned academics and industry-experienced engineers and innovation experts, working across a very broad range of novel technologies and applications.

James Baker added: “Together, these experts will focus on industry-led 2D material development and look to help companies design, develop, scale-up and ‘de-risk’ the next generation of innovative products and processes,”

Fact File - joint R&D programme

The joint R&D programme between Swagֱ�� and Khalifa University  will provide a pipeline of projects from the near to long-term to ensure that RIC-2D development activities remain world-leading and are based upon a strong scientific foundation.

Part of the R&D programme will focus on Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 1-3 – i.e. early stage research and development - beyond which the research teams will collaborate with applications experts at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) in a bid to transfer the technology for commercialisation.

The shared R&D platforms are designed to support existing flagship projects, including those involved with water filtration, construction, energy storage and composites – but there will be an expectation to develop new streams. Finally, the R&D programme will produce high quality academic publications that will add to the prestige and international reputation of RIC-2D.

The joint programme will be a combination of virtual and in-person collaborations, through the exchange of PhD students and researchers and having Khalifa University sponsored labs based within the GEIC.

About Khalifa University of Science and Technology

Khalifa University of Science and Technology, the UAE’s top-ranked research-intensive institution, focuses on developing world-leading critical thinkers in science, engineering and medicine. The world-class university endeavours to be a catalyst to the growth of Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s rapidly developing knowledge economy as an education destination of choice and a global leader among widely acknowledged international universities.

For more information, please visit:

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons.

The scientists argue that exciting developments induced by curvature at the nanoscale allow them to define a completely new field – curved nanoelectronics. The paper examines in detail the origin of curvature effects at the nanoscale and illustrates their potential applications in innovative electronic, spintronic and superconducting devices.

Curved solid-state structures also offer many application opportunities. On a microscopic level, shape deformations in electronic nanochannels give rise to complex three-dimensional spin textures with an unbound potential for new concepts in spin-orbitronics, which will help develop energy-efficient electronic devices. Curvature effects can also promote, in a semimetallic nanowire, the generation of topological insulating phases that can be exploited in nanodevices relevant for quantum technologies, like quantum metrology. In the case of magnetism, curvilinear geometry directly forges the magnetic exchange by generating an effective magnetic anisotropy, thus prefiguring a high potential for designing magnetism on demand.

Dr Ivan Vera-Marun from the National Graphene Institute at Swagֱ�� commented: “nanoscale curvature and its associated strain result in remarkable effects in graphene and 2D materials. The development in preparation of high-quality extended thin films, as well as the potential to arbitrarily reshape those architectures after their fabrication, has enabled first experimental insights into how next-generation electronics can be compliant and thus integrable with living matter”.

The paper also describes the methods needed to synthesise and characterise curvilinear nanostructures, including complex 3D nanoarchitectures like semiconductor nanomembranes and rolled up sandwiches of 2D materials, and highlights key areas for the future developments of curved nanoelectronics.

The image above features a sketch of different research topics currently explored in electronic materials with nanoscale curved geometries. From left to right: geometry-controlled quantum spin transport, spin-triplet Cooper pairs in superconductors, magnetic textures in curvilinear structures.

The researchers believe that this fundamental understanding of interfacial water could be used to design better catalysts to generate hydrogen fuel from water. This is an important part of the UK’s strategy towards achieving a net zero economy. Dr Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo said: “We hope that the insights from this work will be of use to various communities, including physics, catalysis, and interfacial science and that it can help design better catalysts for green hydrogen production”.

A water molecule consists of a proton and a hydroxide ion. Dissociating it involves pulling these two constituent ions apart with an electrical force. In principle, the stronger one pulls the water molecule apart, the faster it should break. This important point has not been demonstrated quantitatively in experiments.

Electrical forces are well known to break water molecules, but stronger forces do not always lead to faster water dissociation, which has puzzled scientists for a long time. A key difference with graphene electrodes is that these are permeable only to protons. The researchers found that this allows separating the resulting proton from the hydroxide ion across graphene, which is a one-atom-thick barrier that prevents their recombination. This charge separation is essential to observe the electric field acceleration of water dissociation. Another key advantage of graphene is that it allows evaluating the electric field at the graphene-water interface experimentally, which allows for quantitative characterisation of the field effect.

The results can be explained using the classical Onsager theory, which had remained unverified experimentally in the important case of water. Junhao Cai, a PhD student and co-first author of the work said: “We were surprised to find how well the Onsager theory fitted our data. This theory provides insights into interfacial water, including an independent estimate of its dielectric constant, which remains poorly understood”.

The authors are excited about the possibilities offered by their experimental setup. Eoin Griffin, PhD student and co-first author of the work said: “Graphene electrodes combine three properties that, as far as we know, are never found together in a single system: only protons permeate through the crystal, it is one-atom-thick and it can sustain very strong electrical forces. This combination allows us to essentially pull apart the first layer of water molecules on the graphene surface”.

This new, seemingly magical application of graphene works quite straightforwardly: add graphene into a solution containing traces of gold and, after a few minutes, pure gold appears on graphene sheets, with no other chemicals or energy input involved. After this you can extract your pure gold by simply burning the graphene off.

The research, , shows that 1 gram of graphene can be sufficient for extracting nearly 2 grams of gold. As graphene costs less than $0.1 per gram, this can be very profitable, with gold priced at around $70 per gram.

Dr Yang Su from Tsinghua University, who led the research efforts, commented: “This apparent magic is essentially a simple electrochemical process. Unique interactions between graphene and gold ions drive the process and also yield exceptional selectivity. Only gold is extracted with no other ions or salts.”

Gold is used in many industries including consumer electronics (mobile phones, laptops etc.) and, when the products are eventually discarded, little of the electronic waste is recycled. The graphene-based process with its high extraction capacity and high selectivity can reclaim close to 100% of gold from electronic waste. This offers an enticing solution for addressing the gold sustainability problem and e-waste challenges.

“Graphene turns rubbish into gold, literally,” added Professor Andre Geim from Swagֱ��, another lead author and Nobel laureate responsible for the first isolation of graphene.

“Not only are our findings promising for making this part of the economy more sustainable, but they also emphasise how different atomically-thin materials can be from their parents, well-known bulk materials,” he added. “Graphite, for example, is worthless for extracting gold, while graphene almost makes the philosopher’s stone”.

Professor Hui-ming Cheng, one of the main authors from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, commented: “With the continuing search for revolutionary applications of graphene, our discovery that the material can be used to recycle gold from electronic waste brings additional excitement to the research community and developing graphene industries.”

Van der Waals heterostructures are much sought after since they display many unique and useful properties not found in naturally occurring materials. In most cases, they are prepared by manually stacking one layer over the other in a time-consuming and labour-intensive process.

Published last week , the study - led by researchers based at the National Graphene Institute (NGI) - describes synthesis of a bulk van der Waals heterostructure consisting of alternating atomic layers of 1T and 1H TaS₂. 1T and 1H TaS₂ are different polymorphs (materials with the same chemical composition but with a variation in atomic arrangement) of TaS₂ with completely different properties – the former insulating, the latter superconducting at low temperatures.

The new heterostructure was obtained through the synthesis of 6R TaS₂ (a rare type of TaS₂, with alternating 1T and 1H layered structure) via a process known as ‘phase transition’ at high temperature (800˚C). Due to its unusual structure, this material shows the co-existence of superconductivity and charge density waves, a very rare phenomenon.

Dr Amritroop Achari, who led the experiment said: “Our work presents a new concept for designing bulk heterostructures. The novel methodology allows the direct synthesis of bulk heterostructures of 1T‐1H TaS₂ by a phase transition from a readily available 1T TaS₂. We believe our work provides significant advances in both science and technology.”

International collaboration

The work was conducted in collaboration with scientists from the NANOlab Center of Excellence at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. Their high‐resolution scanning electron microscopy analysis unambiguously proved the alternating 1T‐1H hetero-layered structure of 6R TaS₂ for the first time and paved the way to interpret the findings.

Professor Milorad Milošević, the lead researcher from the University of Antwerp, commented: “This demonstration of an alternating insulating‐superconducting layered structure in 6R TaS₂ opens a plethora of intriguing questions related to anisotropic behaviour of this material in applied magnetic field and current, emergent Josephson physics, terahertz emission etc., in analogy to bulk cuprates and iron‐based superconductors.”

The findings could therefore have a widespread impact on the understanding of 2D superconductivity, as well as further design of advanced materials for terahertz and Josephson junctions-based devices, a cornerstone of second-generation quantum technology.

Main image (top):  Electron microscopy image of the synthesized 6R TaS₂ with an atomic model of the material on the left. The brown spheres represent Ta atoms and the yellow spheres represent sulphur atoms. The atomic positions and arrangement in the microscopic image are an exact match with the model, confirming its structure.

Publishing in the journal, , the team led by researchers based at the (NGI) used stacks of 2D materials including graphene to trap liquid in order to further understand how the presence of liquid changes the behaviour of the solid.

The team were able to capture . The findings could have widespread impact on the future development of green technologies such as hydrogen production.

When a solid surface is in contact with a liquid, both substances change their configuration in response to the proximity of the other. Such atomic scale interactions at solid-liquid interfaces govern the behaviour of batteries and fuel cells for clean electricity generation, as well as determining the efficiency of clean water generation and underpinning many biological processes.

One of the lead researchers, Professor Sarah Haigh, commented: “Given the widespread industrial and scientific importance of such behaviour it is truly surprising how much we still have to learn about the fundamentals of how atoms behave on surfaces in contact with liquids. One of the reasons information is missing is the absence of techniques able to yield experimental data for solid-liquid interfaces.”

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is one of only few techniques that allows individual atoms to be seen and analysed. However, the TEM instrument requires a high vacuum environment, and the structure of materials changes in a vacuum. First author, Dr Nick Clark explained: “In our work we show that misleading information is provided if the atomic behaviour is studied in vacuum instead of using our liquid cells.”

The NGI's Professor Roman Gorbachev has pioneered the stacking of 2D materials for electronics but here his group have used those same techniques to develop a ‘double graphene liquid cell’. A 2D layer of molybdenum disulphide was fully suspended in liquid and encapsulated by graphene windows. This novel design allowed them to provide precisely controlled liquid layers, enabling the unprecedented videos to be captured showing the single atoms ’swimming’ around surrounded by liquid.

By analysing how the atoms moved in the videos and comparing to theoretical insights provided by colleagues at Cambridge University, the researchers were able to understand the effect of the liquid on atomic behaviour. The liquid was found to speed up the motion of the atoms and also change their preferred resting sites with respect to the underlying solid.

The team studied a material that is promising for green hydrogen production but the experimental technology they have developed can be used for many different applications.

Dr Nick Clark said: “This is a milestone achievement and it is only the beginning – we are already looking to use this technique to support development of materials for sustainable chemical processing, needed to achieve the world’s net zero ambitions.”

is one of Swagֱ��’s - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

The prize is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding achievement in engineering research in the fields of medical, microwave and radar or laser/optoelectronic engineering, with the prize fund awarded to support further research led by the recipient. This year’s theme is lasers and optoelectronics.

Professor Kocabas’ research interests include optoelectronic applications of graphene and other 2D materials. He is nominated for his significant contributions to controlling light with graphene-based devices over a broad spectral range from visible light to microwave.

Outstanding research achievements

Sir John O’Reilly, Chair offor the prize, said: “The A F Harvey Engineering Research Prize recognises the outstanding research achievements of the recipient, from anywhere in the world, who is identified through a search and selection process conducted by a panel of international experts from around the globe.

“We are incredibly proud, through the generous legacy from the late Dr A F Harvey, to be able to recognise and support the furtherance of pioneering engineering research in these fields and thereby their subsequent impact in advancing the world around us," he added. "I’d like to congratulate our six finalists.”

The prize-winner will be chosen from and announced in December 2022. The winning researcher will deliver a keynote lecture on their research in spring 2023.

The IET’s A F Harvey prize is named after Dr A F Harvey, who bequeathed a generous sum of money to the IET for a trust fund to be set up in his name to further research in the specified fields. For more information, visit:

is one of Swagֱ��’s - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

Vector Homes, Genvida and Watercycle Technologies have signed new Tier 2 agreements, while Bullitt – designers of rugged tech for phones – and aerospace giant Airbus have re-signed, also as Tier 2s.

Our Affiliate Partner scheme is growing as well, with HDH Accountants added to the list.

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: “These partnerships demonstrate some of the range of our application work here at the GEIC: from sustainable construction to DNA sequencing and advanced membrane technology.

“We look forward to working with our new partners and also with those renewing terms. As much as we like getting new partners, it’s just as important to ensure our existing partners are seeing success in projects and wanting to take that work forward.”

Vector Homes

Swagֱ��-based uses graphene-enhanced recycled materials to produce the unique standardised components of its houses. The company’s products will have greatly reduced embodied carbon and will not contribute to deforestation, quarrying and mining.

The housing systems can be extended flexibly and are optimised for rapid maintenance, modification and technology incorporation.

Projects already lined up at the GEIC aim to take advantage of the expertise of the engineering staff and state-of-the-art equipment to push the technology forward alongside the firm’s supply chain.

Nathan Feddy, CEO and co-founder (pictured), said: “We are delighted to be joining the GEIC at the centre of Swagֱ��'s world-leading advanced materials ecosystem. This partnership is a fantastic opportunity to develop the materials and systems that will enable us to achieve our goal of cutting carbon emissions and the costs of construction.”

Genvida

Hong Kong-based combines nanoscience and biotechnology, focusing on fourth-generation DNA sequencing technology. Its globally patented SONAS® platform (a solid-state nanopore sensor array-based technology) resolves the bottleneck in DNA sequencing and single-molecule sensing.

SONAS® streamlines each step in genome sequencing, from smart sample preparation to rapid and precise sequencing and single-molecule identification in a fully automated ‘lab-on-a-chip’. This enables real-time and on-site diagnostics with a cloud-based bioinformatics suite.

Dr Ka Wai Wong, co-founder and Vice President of R&D at Genvida, (pictured) said: “Our partnership with the GEIC seeks to unleash the power of fourth-generation DNA sequencing and single-molecule sensing with graphene and 2D materials integrated solid-state nanopores.”

Watercycle Technologies

Led by UoM alumnus Seb Leaper, Watercycle Technologies is a spin-out company from the University of Swagֱ�� developing water treatment and mineral recovery systems for a range of industries, including mining, desalination, textiles and others. The company is currently focusing on direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology to help reduce the environmental impact of established lithium extraction processes such as mining and chemical conversion.

• Watercycle Technologies in Swagֱ�� Evening News

HDH Accountants

Salford-based specialise in the technology and manufacturing sector, advising firms on business growth strategy with individually tailored plans. The firm joins our Affiliate Partner scheme, looking to build relationships within the growing innovation community at the GEIC.

Anthony Hurley, Managing Director of HDH, said: “Joining the GEIC has been an amazing experience – we’ve met some amazing people and businesses and have been genuinely blown away by the opportunities and innovation happening here. 

"We’ve already worked with several GEIC partners, providing everything from start-up advice, monthly finance and tax support through to supporting grant applications. Joining the GEIC has been great for our business and I’m looking forward to learning more and working with lots of other talented people in the future!”
 

Graphene@Swagֱ�� offers a range of options for industrial engagement. You can explore the benefits of different membership grades on  or fill in the to get in touch directly. A full list of our partners is available on .

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

The work could advance optoelectronic technologies to better generate, control and sense light and potentially communications, according to the researchers. They demonstrated a way to control THz waves, which exist at frequencies between those of microwaves and infrared waves. The findings could contribute to the development of beyond-5G wireless technology for high-speed communication networks.

Weak and strong interactions

Light and matter can couple, interacting at different levels: weakly, where they might be correlated but do not change each other’s constituents; or strongly, where their interactions can fundamentally change the system. The ability to control how the coupling shifts from weak to strong and back again has been a major challenge to advancing optoelectronic devices - a challenge researchers have now solved.

“We have demonstrated a new class of optoelectronic devices using concepts of topology - a branch of mathematics studying properties of geometric objects,” said co-corresponding author , Professor of 2D device materials at Swagֱ�� (pictured). “Using exceptional point singularities, we show that topological concepts can be used to engineer optoelectronic devices that enable new ways to manipulate terahertz light.”

Exceptional points are spectral singularities — points at which any two spectral values in an open system coalesce. They are, unsurprisingly, exceptionally sensitive and respond to even the smallest changes to the system, revealing curious yet desirable characteristics, according to co-corresponding author , Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State.

“At an exceptional point, the energy landscape of the system is considerably modified, resulting in reduced dimensionality and skewed topology,” said Özdemir, who is also affiliated with the at Penn State. “This, in turn, enhances the system’s response to perturbations, modifies the local density of states leading to the enhancement of spontaneous emission rates and leads to a plethora of phenomena. Control of exceptional points, and the physical processes that occur at them, could lead to applications for better sensors, imaging, lasers and much more.”

Platform composition

The platform the researchers developed consists of a graphene-based tunable THz resonator, with a gold-foil gate electrode forming a bottom reflective mirror. Above it, a graphene layer is book-ended with electrodes, forming a tunable top mirror. A non-volatile ionic liquid electrolyte layer sits between the mirrors, enabling control of the top mirror’s reflectivity by changing the applied voltage. In the middle of the device, between the mirrors, are molecules of alpha lactose, a sugar commonly found in milk.  

The system is controlled by two adjusters. One raises the lower mirror to change the length of the cavity - tuning the frequency of resonation to couple the light with the collective vibrational modes of the organic sugar molecules, which serve as a fixed number of oscillators for the system. The other adjuster changes the voltage applied to the top graphene mirror - altering the graphene’s reflective properties to transition the energy loss imbalances to adjust coupling strength. The delicate, fine tuning shifts weakly coupled terahertz light and organic molecules to become strongly coupled and vice versa.

“Exceptional points coincide with the crossover point between the weak and strong coupling regimes of terahertz light with collective molecular vibrations,” Özdemir said.

He noted that these singularity points are typically studied and observed in the coupling of analogous modes or systems, such as two optical modes, electronic modes or acoustic modes.

“This work is one of rare cases where exceptional points are demonstrated to emerge in the coupling of two modes with different physical origins,” Kocabas said. “Due to the topology of the exceptional points, we observed a significant modulation in the magnitude and phase of the terahertz light, which could find applications in next-generation THz communications.”

Unprecedented phase modulation in the THz spectrum

As the researchers apply voltage and adjust the resonance, they drive the system to an exceptional point and beyond. Before, at and beyond the exceptional point, the geometric properties - the topology - of the system change.

One such change is the phase modulation, which describes how a wave changes as it propagates and interacts in the THz field. Controlling the phase and amplitude of THz waves is a technological challenge, the researchers said, but their platform demonstrates unprecedented levels of phase modulation. The researchers moved the system through exceptional points, as well as along loops around exceptional points in different directions, and measured how it responded through the changes. Depending on the system’s topology at the point of measurement, phase modulation could range from zero to four magnitudes larger.

“We can electrically steer the device through an exceptional point, which enables electrical control on reflection topology,” said first author Dr M Said Ergoktas. “Only by controlling the topology of the system electronically could we achieve these huge modulations.” 

According to the researchers, the topological control of light-matter interactions around an exceptional point enabled by the graphene-based platform has potential applications ranging from topological optoelectronic and quantum devices to topological control of physical and chemical processes.

Contributors include: Kaiyuan Wang, Gokhan Bakan, Thomas B. Smith, Alessandro Principi and Kostya S. Novoselov, University of Swagֱ��; Sina Soleymani, graduate student in the Penn State Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics; Sinan Balci, Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey; Nurbek Kakenov, who conducted work for this paper while at Bilkent University, Turkey.

The European Research Council, Consolidator Grant (SmartGraphene), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative Award on Programmable Systems with Non-Hermitian Quantum Dynamics and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Award supported this work.

This characteristic, combined with TMDs’ outstanding optical properties, can be used to build multi-functional optoelectronic devices such as transistors and LEDs with built-in memory functions on nanometre length scale.

Ferroelectrics are materials with two or more electrically polarisable states that can be reversibly switched with the application of an external electric field. This material property is ideal for applications such as non-volatile memory, microwave devices, sensors and transistors. Until recently, out-of-plane switchable ferroelectricity at room temperature had been achieved only in films thicker than 3 nanometres.

2D heterostructures

Since the isolation of graphene in 2004, researchers across academia have studied a variety of new 2D materials with a wide range of exciting properties. These atomically thin 2D crystals can be stacked on top of one another to create so-called heterostructures - artificial materials with tailored functions.

More recently, a team of researchers from NGI, in collaboration with NPL, demonstrated that below a twist angle of 2^o, atomic lattices physically reconstruct to form regions (or domains) of perfectly stacked bilayers separated by boundaries of locally accumulated strain.  For two monolayers stacked parallel to each other, a tessellated pattern of mirror-reflected triangular domains is created. Most importantly, the two neighbouring domains have an asymmetric crystal symmetry, causing an asymmetry in their electronic properties.

Ferroelectric switching at room temperature

In the work, , the team demonstrated that the domain structure created with low-angle twisting hosts interfacial ferroelectricity in bilayer TMDs. Kelvin probe force microscopy revealed that neighbouring domains are oppositely polarised and electrical transport measurements demonstrated reliable ferroelectric switching at room temperature.

The team went on to develop a scanning electron microscope (SEM) technique with enhanced contrast, using signal from back-scattered electrons. This made it possible to apply an electric field in-situ while imaging changes to the domain structure in a non-invasive manner, providing essential information on how the domain switching mechanism works. The boundaries separating the oppositely polarised domains were found to expand and contract depending on the sign of the applied electric field and led to a significant redistribution of the polarised states.

This work clearly demonstrates that the twist degree of freedom can allow the creation of atomically thin optoelectronics with tailored and multi-functional properties.

Wide scope for tailored 2D materials

Lead author Astrid Weston (pictured right) said: ����’s very exciting that we can demonstrate that this simple tool of twisting can engineer new properties in 2D crystals. With the wide variety of 2D crystals to choose from, it provides us with almost unlimited scope to create perfectly tailored artificial materials.”

Co-author Dr Eli G Castanon added: “Being able to observe the pattern and behaviour of ferroelectric domains in structures that have nanometre thickness with KPFM and SEM was very exciting. The advancement of characterisation techniques together with the extensive possibilities for the formation of novel heterostructures of 2D materials paves the way to achieve new capabilities at the nanoscale for many industries.”

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

The team - comprising researchers from the National Graphene Institute (NGI) led by Dr Ivan Vera Marun, alongside collaborators from Japan and including students internationally funded by Ecuador and Mexico - used monolayer graphene encapsulated by another 2D material (hexagonal boron nitride) in a so-called van der Waals heterostructure with one-dimensional contacts (main picture, above). This architecture was observed to deliver an extremely high-quality graphene channel, reducing the interference or electronic ‘doping’ by traditional 2D tunnel contacts.

‘Spintronic’ devices, as they are known, may offer higher energy efficiency and lower dissipation compared to conventional electronics, which rely on charge currents. In principle, phones and tablets operating with spin-based transistors and memories could be greatly improved in speed and storage capacity, exceeding Moore’s Law. 

, the Swagֱ�� team measured electron mobility up to 130,000cm²/Vs at low temperatures (20K or -253^oC). For purposes of comparison, the only previously published efforts to fabricate a device with 1D contacts achieved mobility below 30,000cm²/Vs, and the 130k figure measured at the NGI is higher than recorded for any other previous graphene channel where spin transport was demonstrated.

The researchers also recorded spin diffusion lengths approaching 20μm. Where longer is better, most typical conducting materials (metals and semiconductors) have spin diffusion lengths <1μm. The value of spin diffusion length observed here is comparable to the best graphene spintronic devices demonstrated to date.

Lead author of the study Victor Guarochico said: “Our work is a contribution to the field of graphene spintronics. We have achieved the largest carrier mobility yet regarding spintronic devices based on graphene. Moreover, the spin information is conserved over distances comparable with the best reported in the literature. These aspects open up the possibility to explore logic architectures using lateral spintronic elements where long-distance spin transport is needed.”

Co-author Chris Anderson added: “This research work has provided exciting evidence for a significant and novel approach to controlling spin transport in graphene channels, thereby paving the way towards devices possessing comparable features to advanced contemporary charge-based devices. Building on this work, bilayer graphene devices boasting 1D contacts are now being characterised, where the presence of an electrostatically tuneable bandgap enables an additional dimension to spin transport control.”

Discover more about our capabilities in graphene and 2D material research at .

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

A vacuum is assumed to be completely empty space, without any matter or elementary particles. However, it was predicted by Nobel laureate Julian Schwinger 70 years ago that intense electric or magnetic fields can break down the vacuum and spontaneously create elementary particles. 

This requires truly cosmic-strength fields such as those around or created transitorily during high-energy collisions of charged nuclei. It has been a longstanding goal of particle physics to probe these theoretical predictions experimentally and some are currently planned for high-energy colliders around the world.

Now an international, Swagֱ��-led research team – headed by another Nobel laureate, Prof Andre Geim, in collaboration with colleagues from UK, Spain, US and Japan - has used graphene to mimic the Schwinger production of electron and positron pairs.

Exceptionally strong electric fields

In the , they report specially designed devices such as narrow constrictions and superlattices made from graphene, which allowed the researchers to achieve exceptionally strong electric fields in a simple table-top setup. Spontaneous production of electron and hole pairs was clearly observed (holes are a solid-state analogue of subatomic particles called positrons) and the process's details agreed well with theoretical predictions.

The scientists also observed another unusual high-energy process that so far has no analogies in particle physics and astrophysics. They filled their simulated vacuum with electrons and accelerated them to the maximum velocity allowed by graphene’s vacuum, which is 1/300 of the speed of light.  At this point, something seemingly impossible happened: electrons seemed to become superluminous, providing an electric current higher than allowed by general rules of quantum condensed matter physics. The origin of this effect was explained as spontaneous generation of additional charge carriers (holes). Theoretical description of this process provided by the research team is rather different from the Schwinger one for the empty space.

“People usually study electronic properties using tiny electric fields that allows easier analysis and theoretical description. We decided to push the strength of electric fields as much as possible using different experimental tricks not to burn our devices,” said the paper’s first author Dr Alexey Berduygin, a post-doctoral researcher in Swagֱ��'s Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Co-lead author from the same department Dr Na Xin added: “We just wondered what could happen at this extreme. To our surprise, it was the Schwinger effect rather than smoke coming out of our set-up.”

Another leading contributor, Dr Roshan Krishna Kumar from the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, said: “When we first saw the spectacular characteristics of our superlattice devices, we thought ‘wow … it could be some sort of new superconductivity’. Although the response closely resembles those routinely observed in superconductors, we soon found that the puzzling behaviour was not superconductivity but rather something in the domain of astrophysics and particle physics. It is curious to see such parallels between distant disciplines.”

The research is also important for the development of future electronic devices based on two-dimensional quantum materials and establishes limits on wiring made from graphene that was already known for its remarkable ability to sustain ultra-high electric currents.

Main illustration by Matteo Ceccanti and Simone Cassandra.

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

If a pore size in a membrane is comparable to the size of atoms and molecules, they can either pass through the membrane or be rejected, allowing separation of gases according to their molecular diameters. Industrial gas separation technologies widely use this principle, often relying on polymer membranes with different porosity. There is always a trade-off between the accuracy of separation and its efficiency: the finer you adjust the pore sizes, the less gas flow such sieves allow.

It has long been speculated that, using two-dimensional membranes similar in thickness to graphene, one can reach much better trade-offs than currently achievable because, unlike conventional membranes, atomically thin ones should allow easier gas flows for the same selectivity.

Now a research team led by Professor Sir Andre Geim at Swagֱ��, in collaboration with scientists from Belgium and China, have used low-energy electrons to punch individual atomic-scale holes in suspended graphene. The holes came in sizes down to about two angstroms, smaller than even the smallest atoms such as helium and hydrogen.

In December's issue of Nature Communications, that they achieved practically perfect selectivity (better than 99.9%) for such gases as helium or hydrogen with respect to nitrogen, methane or xenon. Also, air molecules (oxygen and nitrogen) pass through the pores easily relative to carbon dioxide, which is >95% captured.

The scientists point out that to make two-dimensional membranes practical, it is essential to find atomically thin materials with intrinsic pores, that is, pores within the crystal lattice itself.

“Precision sieves for gases are certainly possible and, in fact, they are conceptually not dissimilar to those used to sieve sand and granular materials. However, to make this technology industrially relevant, we need membranes with densely spaced pores, not individual holes created in our study to prove the concept for the first time. Only then are the high flows required for industrial gas separation achievable,” says Dr Pengzhan Sun, a lead author of the paper.

The research team now plans to search for such two-dimensional materials with large intrinsic pores to find those most promising for future gas separation technologies. Such materials do exist. For example, there are various graphynes, which are also atomically thin allotropes of carbon but not yet manufactured at scale. These look like graphene but have larger carbon rings, similar in size to the individual defects created and studied by the Swagֱ�� researchers. The right size may make graphynes perfectly suited for gas separation.

, compiled by global data analytics firm Clarivate and published on 16 November, features eight researchers based in the NGI, from a total of 15 from UoM who appear in the analysis.

The statistics cover the period from 2010-2020, ranking the top 1% by citations for field and year via online research tool , incorporating natural sciences, engineering, healthcare, business and social science.

The NGI researchers are listed below:

Three of the NGI staff (Geim, Gorbachev and Grigorieva) are among 10 physicists working in the UK who appeared in this year’s list. Only Cambridge (2) also had more than one academic in the UK physics ranking.

In the past decade, with the opening of the £61m  in 2015 and £60m  in 2018, Swagֱ�� has cemented its place as the home of research into graphene and other 2D materials, leading on both fundamental science and translational R&D into products and applications.

Professor Falko, Director of the NGI (pictured, right), said: “World-leading research is a combination of singular whirlpools, generated by outstanding individuals. The NGI is a home for many of those individuals, and we are constantly looking for a new talent, providing them with excellent infrastructure and offering a unique intellectual environment.”

The Clarivate report lists 6,600 researchers from more than 1,300 institutions and draws on statistics from around 12 million articles in 12,000+ journals.

Overall, the UK ranks third with 492 researchers on the global list (7.5%), behind the US (39.7%) and China (14.2%), but the report notes the UK punching above its weight, stating the result “is a particularly high number of researchers at the very top of their fields in terms of citation impact, given that the United Kingdom has a population 1/5 the size of the United States and 1/20 the size of mainland China.”

By institution, Harvard University leads the way with 214 researchers on the list, ahead of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (194). Oxford University is the leading UK institution at 10th on the global list with 51.

You can find out more about on the Clarivate website.

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

Victrex, Molymem and Survitec have signed up to become Tier 2 partners, offering access to labs, world-leading equipment and expertise in engineering solutions for graphene and other 2D materials.

Ivan Buckley, Director of Business Engagement for Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: “We’re delighted to welcome our new partners to our growing list of industrial collaborations.

“The GEIC was created to help companies take innovation rapidly from lab to market and these product areas and services – from advanced polymers and membranes to life-saving equipment and advice on R&D finance – show the range of possibilities across graphene and other 2D materials that we are able to accommodate with our engineering and business expertise.”

“We look forward to working closely with our new and existing partners to build fruitful partnerships and successful products and applications.”

Victrex

Lancashire-based Victrex is a manufacturer of high-performance materials, specialising in thermoplastic polymers.

The company focuses on six core markets - aerospace, automotive, energy, electronics, manufacturing and engineering, and medical - and is looking to address sustainability challenges with advanced materials engineering across those sectors. 

Dr John Grasmeder, Chief Scientist at Victrex, said: “Victrex is delighted to have partnered with Graphene@Swagֱ��, as this will enable us to work together to accelerate innovation and create global opportunities for sustainable, graphene-containing high-performance materials. We look forward to a successful collaboration with the GEIC and its partners.”

Molymem

A spin-out from Swagֱ��, Molymem has developed a membrane technology using 2D material molybdenum disulphide (MoS2), aimed at a range of industrial processes for purification, reducing fouling and minimising the use of harsh chemicals for cleaning.

Molymem co-founder Dr Mark Bissett is also a senior lecturer in nanomaterials at Swagֱ��. He said: “As a University of Swagֱ�� spin out, it is logical for Molymem to be based within the GEIC as this allows us access to facilities to scale up our technology.

“We have been working with the GEIC for over two years now, and are working with a variety of commercial partners to use our technology to solve their specific needs in filtration and the removal of pollutants from water.”

Survitec

Survitec and the GEIC have partnered in order to promote new and novel materials for use in life-saving equipment. This partnership will allow Survitec to continue to achieve its vision as being the most trusted company for critical safety and survival equipment.

“We’re excited to have kicked off multiple projects with the team at the GEIC and look forward to realising some of the opportunities we have identified together to ultimately satisfy Survitec’s purpose of ‘existing to protect lives’,” said Martin Whittaker, Survitec CEO (Aerospace and Defence).

“As demand for new and novel materials increases in support of 6^th-generation aircraft and other next-generation platforms, the partnership with GEIC epitomises Survitec’s commitment to working closely with world-leading academic and industrial institutions.”

Meanwhile, Counting King - an expert in finance and tax credits for R&D - has taken affiliate membership and Applied Graphene Materials - a producers of high-quality graphene nanoplatelets and dispersions - has taken advantage of our deal that allows members of (also a Tier 2 partner) to enjoy certain benefits of GEIC membership.

Graphene@Swagֱ�� offers a range of options for industrial engagement. You can explore the benefits of different membership grades on  or fill in the to get in touch directly. A full list of our partners is available on .

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

When a police car speeds past you with its siren blaring, you hear a distinct change in the frequency of the siren’s noise. This is the Doppler effect. When a jet aircraft’s speed exceeds the speed of sound (about 760 mph), the pressure it exerts upon the air produces a shock wave which can be heard as a loud supersonic boom or thunderclap. This is the Mach effect.

Scientists from universities in Loughborough, Nottingham, Swagֱ��, Lancaster and Kansas (US) have discovered that a quantum mechanical version of these phenomena occurs in an electronic transistor made from high-purity graphene. Their new publication: “Graphene’s non-equilibrium fermions reveal Doppler-shifted magnetophonon resonances accompanied by Mach supersonic and Landau velocity effects” was .

The research team used strong electric and magnetic fields to accelerate a stream of electrons in an atomically-thin graphene monolayer composed of a hexagonal lattice of carbon atoms. At a sufficiently high current density, equivalent to around 100 billion amps per square metre passing through the single atomic layer of carbon, the electron stream reaches a speed of 14 kilometers per second (around 30,000mph) and starts to shake the carbon atoms, thus emitting quantised bundles of sound energy called acoustic phonons. This phonon emission is detected as a resonant increase in the electrical resistance of the transistor; a supersonic boom is observed in graphene!

The researchers also observed a quantum mechanical analogue of the Doppler effect at lower currents when energetic electrons jump between quantised cyclotron orbits and emit acoustic phonons with a Doppler-like up-shift or down-shift of their frequencies, depending on the direction of the sound waves relative to that of the speeding electrons. By cooling their graphene transistor to liquid helium temperature, the team detected a third phenomenon in which the electrons interact with each other through their electrical charge and make “phononless” jumps between quantised energy levels at a critical speed, the so-called Landau velocity.

The devices were fabricated at the NGI in Swagֱ�� (see 'a' pictured above, where W=15μm). Dr Piranavan Kumaravadivel (right), who led device design and development, said: “The large size and high quality of our devices are key for observing these phenomena. Our devices are sufficiently large and pure that electrons interact almost exclusively with phonons and other electrons. We expect that these results will inspire similar studies of non-equilibrium phenomena in other 2D materials.

“Our measurements also demonstrate that high-quality graphene layers can carry very high continuous current densities, which approach those achievable in superconductors. High-purity graphene transistors could find future applications in nanoscale power electronic technologies.”

Dr Mark Greenway, from Loughborough University, one of the authors of the paper commented: “It is fantastic to observe of all these effects simultaneously in a graphene monolayer. It is due to graphene’s excellent electronic properties that we can investigate these out-of-equilibrium quantum processes in detail and understand how electrons in graphene, accelerated by a strong electric field, scatter and lose their energy. The Landau velocity is a quantum property of superconductors and superfluid helium. So it was particularly exciting to detect a similar effect in the dissipative resonant magnetoresistance of graphene.”

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

Main image (top): Non-equilibrium magnetoresistance oscillations at T = 40 K: magnetophonon resonance splitting and the Mach effect.

Concretene uses graphene – the revolutionary 2D material discovered in Swagֱ�� – to significantly improve the mechanical performance of concrete, allowing for reductions in the amount of material used and the need for steel reinforcement. This can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 30% and drive down costs, meaning Concretene is both greener and cheaper for developers.

At Mayfield, it has been used to create a new 54x14-metre mezzanine floor, which will become a roller disco at the popular Escape to Freight Island attraction in Mayfield’s vast site, a former railway depot.

The installation is the first ever commercial use of Concretene in a suspended slab and marks an important step towards testing and developing it as a widely-used building material, allowing it to be used as a substitute for concrete on an industrial scale.

The Concretene pour builds on Swagֱ��’s reputation as a city of world-leading innovations dating back to the Industrial Revolution, and reinforces Mayfield’s return to prominence in the city amid a .

• MP attends showcase for Swagֱ��'s emissions-busing concrete
• GEIC hosts first exterior pour of graphene-enhanced Concretene
•  (YouTube video)

The material has been developed by the University of Swagֱ��’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) and Nationwide Engineering, an innovative company co-founded by a former University of Swagֱ�� civil engineering graduate, Alex McDermott.

“This is a huge milestone for the team, as not only is this our first commercial, third-party use of Concretene, but also the first suspended slab as used in high-rise developments.”

“As world leaders in graphene-enhanced concrete technology, the interest from the international building industry has been beyond expectations, as looming legislation is forcing significant carbon reductions throughout construction.”

“Our partnership with the University has fast-tracked the development of Concretene, going from lab to product in 18 months,” added Nationwide Engineering co-founder Rob Hibberd.

Less material, less time

Concretene has great potential to address the construction industry’s need to lower emissions, by reducing the amount of concrete required in construction projects by as much as 30%. It also offers efficiency savings by slashing drying time. Pours of Concretene to date have achieved the equivalent of 28-day strength in just 12 hours.

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ�� at the University, said: “We’re delighted to play a part in this exciting project at Mayfield, showcasing how our research can translate into real-world outcomes for sustainability that can be adopted by business and make a major contribution to the city region’s ambitions for net-zero by 2038.

“This Swagֱ��-based technology can also contribute to levelling up by positioning our region as a global R&D centre for sustainable materials for the construction industry – attracting investment, creating new businesses and offering high-wage jobs.”

Arlene van Bosch, Development Director, U+I, added: “Our ambition is for Mayfield to become an exemplar sustainable neighbourhood, where people and planet come first. Innovations such as the use of Concretene are central to realising our vision – we want to push the boundaries of design and construction to create the most environmentally-friendly place possible.

“It’s been brilliant to collaborate with Nationwide Engineering, the GEIC and our partners at Broadwick Live and Escape to Freight Island, who are doing an amazing job of making Mayfield the beating heart of Swagֱ��’s cultural life.”

The pour of the suspended slab at Mayfield marks a significant step towards testing and developing Concretene as a widely-used building material, allowing it to be used as a substitute for concrete on an industrial scale. Graphene for the pour at Mayfield was provided by , a Tier 1 partner of the GEIC.

Leading cause of emissions

Production of cement for concrete is one of the leading causes of global CO2 emissions, producing around 8% of total global emissions.

Most commonly, graphene is a material extracted from graphite but it can be derived from many different products, including recycled plastics or biomass. This makes Concretene a game-changer in the race to lower the industry’s whole-life carbon footprint.

The use of graphene in concrete produces 6.3kg of CO2 per tonne of concrete – a 21.94kg reduction per tonne compared to traditional steel reinforcement. The total estimated reduction in CO2 emissions for this floor slab compared to a traditional concrete solution is 4,265kg.

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

Nationwide Engineering, Tier 2 partners of the GEIC, relaid parking bays on the service road adjacent to the Centre on Thursday 2 September, using its graphene-enhanced Concretene product as a ‘living lab’ to test performance in exterior conditions.

Graphene provides sustainability benefits by producing denser, stronger concrete, which allows for the removal of approximately 30% of the volume of material used and removal of all steel reinforcement from the floor slab, while achieving comparable or improved performance to standard concrete. This enables reductions both in carbon footprint and in cost for users.

These tests will help towards the development of standards and certification for Concretene to enable roll-out to the wider building industry supply chain.

In May, Nationwide Engineering undertook at the Southern Quarter gym in Amesbury, Wiltshire.

“Now we are exploring the use of Concretene in road and pavement design to provide a concrete with a higher wear resistance, lower water porosity to prevent frost and salt damage and an increased wear resistance," said Rob Hibberd, director of Nationwide Engineering. "This will provide a longer life-span to the road and require less maintenance.”

The University welcomed guests from the Greater Swagֱ�� policymaking community, including representatives from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and MIDAS, Swagֱ��’s inward investment agency.

Attendees watched the pour and then took part in a discussion session afterwards in the GEIC on the potential for Concretene to deliver significant benefits in the race to achieve net-zero. Concrete production currently accounts for 8-10% of worldwide CO2 emissions.

Tim Newns, CEO of MIDAS, said: “It was a really exciting morning outside the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre in Swagֱ�� – the home of graphene – where we saw the first outdoor pouring of Concretene. From a low-carbon, net-zero or environmental perspective, this product could be a real game changer.”

Graphene for the pour was provided by GEIC Tier 1 partner Versarien, offering further evidence of the collaborative approach to projects through , one that enables rapid scale-up and route-to-market for engineering applications using 2D materials.

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, added: “It was great to continue to build on our partnership with Nationwide Engineering and other GEIC partners in undertaking a further graphene concrete pour outside the GEIC.

"We were pleased to welcome key stakeholders from across government and Greater Swagֱ�� and will continue to collaborate on how graphene can support the sustainability challenge and move towards net-zero. This will lead to further exciting developments over the coming months and towards the acceleration of a key graphene application and in the creation of a supply chain based in Greater Swagֱ��.”

Discover more about Concretene and the GEIC:

 (YouTube video)

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

Clays, like graphite, consist of crystal layers stacked on top of each other and can be mechanically or chemically separated to produce ultra-thin materials. The layers themselves are just a few atoms thick, while the space between layers is molecularly narrow and contains ions. The interlayer ions can be altered in a controllable way by allowing different ion species to penetrate between the layers.

This property, known as ion exchange, allows for control of the physical properties of these crystals in membrane applications. However, despite its relevance in these emerging technologies, the ion exchange process in atomically thin clays has remained largely unexplored.

Writing in , a team led by Professor Sarah Haigh and Dr Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo shows that it is possible to take snapshots of ions as they diffuse inside the interlayer space of clay crystals using scanning transmission electron microscopy. This allows study of the ion exchange process with atomic resolution. The researchers were excited to find that ions diffuse exceptionally fast in atomically thin clays – 10,000 times faster than in bulk crystals.

Space to move

Complementary atomic force microscopy measurements showed that the fast migration arises because the long-range (van der Waals) forces that bind together the 2D clay layers are weaker than in their bulk counterparts, which allows them to swell more; effectively the ions have more space so move faster.

Unexpectedly, the researchers also found that by misaligning or twisting two clay layers, they could control the arrangements of the substituted ions within the interlayer space. The ions were observed to arrange in clusters or islands, whose size depends on the twist angle between the layers. These arrangements are known as 2D moire superlattices, but had not been observed before for 2D ion lattices – only for twisted crystals without ions.

Dr Yichao Zou, postdoctoral researcher and first author of the paper, said: "Our work shows that clays and micas enable the fabrication of 2D metal ion superlattices. This suggests the possibility of studying the optical and electronic behaviour of these new structures, which may have importance for quantum technologies, where twisted lattices are being intensively investigated.”

New insights in diffusion

The researchers are also excited about the possibility of using clays and other 2D materials to understand ion transport in low dimensions. Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo added: "Our observation that ion exchange can be accelerated by four orders of magnitude in atomically thin clays demonstrates the potential of 2D materials to control and enhance ion transport. This not only provides fundamentally new insights into diffusion in molecularly-narrow spaces, but suggests new strategies to design materials for a wide range of applications."

The researchers also believe that their ‘snapshots’ technique has much wider application. Professor Haigh added: "Clays are really challenging to study with atomic resolution in the electron microscope as they damage very quickly. This work demonstrates that with a few tricks and a lot of patience from a dedicated team of researchers, we can overcome these difficulties to study ion diffusion at the atomic scale. We hope the methodology demonstrated here will further allow for new insights into confined water systems as well as in applications of clays as novel membrane materials.”

Further reading on membranes

You can read more about research into membranes using advanced materials at Swagֱ�� at the following links:

• Control over water friction with 2D materials towards 'smart membranes'
• Ultra-fast gas flows through tiniest holes in 2D membranes
• Swagֱ��: bringing clean water to the world
• Molymem: Swagֱ�� spin-out brings innovative water filtration tech to market

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

On 14 July, we welcomed Lord Grimstone of Boscobel Kt, Minister for Investment jointly at the Department for International Trade (DIT) and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Lord Grimstone’s trip to the city-region included discussions with Mayor of Greater Swagֱ�� Andy Burnham and a look around the new hub building for , the UK’s national institute for advanced materials research and innovation, based at Swagֱ��.

At the GEIC, Lord Grimstone was given a tour of our labs and shown graphene-enhanced innovations taken from lab to market, including the inov-8 running shoe, now a bestseller, plus a graphene-enhanced concrete (Concretene) that was recently .

“[Graphene@Swagֱ�� is] helping companies commercialise new technologies, products and processes that exploit the remarkable properties of graphene and other 2D materials,” said Lord Grimstone. “These innovations will help us drive clean growth and encourage greener investment from around the world.”

James Baker, CEO at Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: “We introduced the minister to a range of our industry partners, including large international companies to start-ups and SMEs from our local area. There were some great discussions on how we can support these companies and, in turn, how our materials work in Swagֱ�� can support the government’s levelling up agenda in the North West.”

On 29 July, we entertained two visiting parties, one from the German Embassy to the UK, another from the British Deputy High Commission in Chennai, India.

German Ambassador Andreas Michaelis and Frau Heike Michaelis were joined by representatives from the and on a wide-ranging tour of the city-region, taking in Salford’s Media City and a number of manufacturing sites.

When visiting the GEIC, the party were shown around the Composites Lab and the High Bay, where staff talked through some of our ground-breaking work around low-emissions concrete and anti-corrosion coatings for steel (pictured below).

Andreas Michaelis (above, far left) said: “Swagֱ��’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre is one of the world's leading graphene research centres. Many thanks to the team for offering me a fascinating look at the innovative work they are doing and illustrating the many potential areas of application for this 'wonder material'."

Later the same day, Oliver Ballhatchet MBE - the Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, representing the UK in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry – was accompanied by Shehla Hasan, Executive Director of the Swagֱ�� India Partnership, and Paul Battersby from MIDAS – Greater Swagֱ��’s inward investment agency – as part of a tour given by Paul Wiper, Application Manager and leader of the GEIC’s Bridging the Gap programme, which supports local SMEs pioneering graphene innovation. This programme is funded by the European Regional Development Agency (ERDF).

Among the facilities shown was the lab that Paul manages (pictured above), specialising in chemical vapour deposition (CVD) with advanced equipment for growing few-layer and monolayer graphene and other 2D materials.

“It was a pleasure to showcase the GEIC’s capabilities and world-class equipment with Oliver and we hope for future collaborations,” said Paul.

Top image (l-r): Lord Grimstone; James Baker, CEO Graphene@Swagֱ��; Prof Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice Chancellor of Swagֱ��; Professor Richard Jones, Chair of Materials Physics and Innovation Policy; Tim Newns, CEO of MIDAS Swagֱ��

In the face of a fast-growing world population, these numbers are clearly unsustainable and next week (Wed 28 July), a prestigious international event will put a spotlight on food waste - and reveal how graphene-based innovation can make a difference.

The webinar - entitled ‘How can we stop the global food system from destroying our planet?’ - is being hosted jointly by the UAE and UK, in partnership with UAE-UK Business Council.

The webinar brings together industry experts, government representatives and start-ups to share insight and showcase innovation that could significantly change how we manage food, packaging and transport across the supply chain from grower to consumer. .

Who is on the panel?

Swagֱ�� entrepreneur Dr Beenish Siddique will be speaking about the innovative agritech around vertical farming and water conservation that she is pioneering at Swagֱ��’s world-class advanced materials accelerator, the .

Enterprise leader Ray Gibbs, from Graphene@Swagֱ��, based at Swagֱ��, will be moderating the session and says the issue of food waste is now an urgent one.

He explained: “The global food system is putting immense pressure on our planet’s ecosystems. So much so that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation calls the global food system ‘the single largest driver of environmental degradation and transgression of planetary boundaries’.”

Panellists and guest speakers include:

Keynote Speakers

• Her Excellency Mariam Al-Muhairi, Minister of State for Future Food Security UAE (TBC)
• Lord Udny-Lister, Chairman UAE-UK Business Council
• The Rt Hon Lord Benyon - Parliamentary Under Secretary (DEFRA)
• Najla Al-Midfa, CEO, Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre

Panel 1: The Future of Food Sustainability

• Claire Hughes, Director of Products and Innovation, Sainsbury's
• Martin Wickham, food and drink investment specialist at the UK’s Department of International Trade

Panel 2: Using Technology for Change

• Khalid Al Huraimal, CEO Bee'ah (UAE)
• Ignacio Ramirez, Managing Director Winnow (UK)
• Sean Dennis, CEO Seafood Souq (UAE)
• Dr Beenish Siddique, AEH Innovative Hydrogel (UK)

Closing remarks will be given by The Rt Hon Alistair Burt - Chariman Emirates Society.

[main pic: Paul Schellekens on Unsplash]

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

Nationwide Engineering, Nanoplexus and Grafmarine have become Tier 2 partners of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), the three very different businesses showcasing the application expertise being developed in our labs and pilot-scale trials (see individual details below).

A Tier 2 Partnership gives participating firms access to GEIC labs, equipment and expertise, plus a managed, low-risk and collaborative approach to explore the possibilities of graphene and other 2D materials from proof of principle through to pre-production.

These new agreements form part of the rapidly expanding innovation network for graphene and 2D materials at Swagֱ��, with sustainability-focused applications demonstrating viability and market impact.

Expanding ecosystem

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: “It is great to add our latest Tier 2 partners to the broadening list of industry partners being developed through the GEIC and the Graphene@Swagֱ�� ecosystem.

“The range of different businesses, supply-chain and application areas really shows the breadth of the markets being addressed through graphene and 2D materials. I look forward to seeing our new and existing collaborations and partnerships further develop into new products and applications in the near future.”

The new recruits

Nationwide Engineering
A construction and civil engineering firm, based in Amesbury, Wiltshire, whose new product Concretene – a graphene-enhanced additive mixture – is making an impact around sustainability in the building trade.

The ad-mixture strengthens the concrete by up to 30%, allowing large volumes of material and steel reinforcement to be removed from the process, reducing emissions and costs.

A world-first pour for this engineered concrete solution in a commercial setting – more than 700m² at the Southern Quarter gym in Amesbury – has proven how the product fits into existing batching equipment and processes and can make a significant contribution to reducing the carbon footprint in construction in the UK and worldwide (see video below).

Co-director and founder Alex McDermott said: “After two years working with the GEIC to develop this revolutionary graphene-enhanced concrete, we are delighted to show our long-term commitment by becoming a Tier 2 partner.”

Nanoplexus
A spin-out from Swagֱ��, developing a platform technology based on decoration of 2D material aerogels for novel catalysts, composites and energy systems.

The firm aims to enable scalable and sustainable clean energy infrastructures through a cost-effective material that can be applied in catalyst-based systems such as fuel cells and carbon sequestration units.

Nanoplexus is currently producing and working with a new class of 2D material, known as MXene, and has taken lab space in the GEIC to scale up production, helped by funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) .

CEO Jae Jong Byun commented: “Joining the GEIC as a Tier 2 partner enables us to access state-of-the-art facilities that streamline the commercialisation process, especially for capital intensive start-ups like ours. The GEIC ecosystem allows us to network with experts and potentially look for collaborations that can broaden Nanoplexus’ scope.”

Grafmarine
A renewable energy business developing a new type of integrated solar power generation and storage system, to turn any surface into a power generating and storage cluster. The technology is capable of being deployed in any scale clusters and is modular, scalable and future updatable.

As the marine sector edges towards zero emissions, Grafmarine’s energy deck will challenge the reliance on heavy marine fuels in propulsion and port power by providing an alternative source of renewable energy. The firm is currently engaging with marine development partners in several key sectors, before manufacture in 2022/3, with a target to provide a vessel with full renewable propulsion power within 3-6 years.

Martin Leigh, Technology Director, said: "As a Swagֱ��-based SME, Grafmarine is delighted to partner Graphene@Swagֱ�� in the development of energy storage materials. We look forward to be part of graphene's wider commercialisation success into the future, as we continue to develop our advanced materials."

Graphene@Swagֱ�� offers a range of options for industrial engagement. Find out more in the of our website, or fill in the to get in touch directly.

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

The first prize of £50,000, awarded on Friday 9 July, will go towards developing the concept further within the Graphene@Swagֱ�� innovation ecosystem, alongside access to specialist equipment and expertise at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC).

Dr Koncherry, a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Materials at Swagֱ��, has already shown his entrepreneurial abilities around 2D materials, with his SpaceMat product using waste rubber to deliver high-performing recycled flooring to market.

This next innovation proposes to raise the technology readiness level of new composites for space applications, using the model of future habitats on the Moon and Mars.

Vivek’s team was supported with design and engineering concepts by US architects , the firm behind the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

The second prize of £20,000 was awarded to Niting Zeng, a post-doc and teaching assistant in the Directorate for Student Experience at Swagֱ��, for CATALight: a wastewater treatment system that uses a combination of sunlight and 2D materials to degrade pollutants via so-called ‘photocatalysis’.

The product will reduce costs in numerous ways, including electricity usage, machinery investment, maintenance and construction activities, crucially fitting into existing systems of water treatment.

The judging panel – drawn from senior leadership at the University, including the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre (MEC) and the GEIC – were full of praise for all five finalists in the competition and stressed the potential for further development of Deaking Bio-hybrid Materials, Clean Energy Underground and Nanocomb Technologies, more details of which are available via the links below.

• Details of the Eli and Britt Harari shortlist

Vivek Koncherry said: “I want to thank all the organisers of the awards for all the help and support they’ve given me throughout. I did my undergrad, Master’s, PhD and now post-doc all at Swagֱ��, so I feel like part of the family and there’s an ecosystem here to support innovation and entrepreneurship.

“Manufacturing a scale-model of a space habitat is an ambitious task and this award will bring my dream of doing that one step closer.

“To do something big, you need partners and we’re also open to collaboration to do something as challenging as building a permanent settlement in space.”

Lynn Sheppard, Director of MEC and chair of the judging panel, said: “Both of the winning ideas in this year’s awards truly exemplify this competition and I’m sure we’ll be seeing much more of you in the future.”

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

, led by Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering in collaboration with the Laboratory of Soft Biolectronic Interfaces at EPFL in Lausanne and Swagֱ��’s National Graphene Institute (NGI), mixed carbon nanotubes with a water-based, defect-free solution of graphene, by a team led by Professor Cinzia Casiraghi.

Electrodes are frequently used in medicine to monitor or deliver electrical impulses inside and outside the human body, however performance is currently limited by the rigidity of devices that do not match the soft springiness of living tissue, a property known as viscoelasticity. Electrodes may detach under movement or require greater current to affect their intended target because their shape does not fit precisely to the host site.

The key, according to lead authors Ms Christina Tringides and Professor David Mooney from Harvard, was a hydrogel that could mimic the viscoelasticity of tissue, alongside a conductive ink that could also perform well under flexion.

Replacing rigid metals

Tringides and Mooney, in collaboration with the  in Swagֱ��, identified a mixture of graphene flakes and carbon nanotubes as the best conductive filler, replacing the use of traditional rigid metals.

“Part of the advantage of these materials is their long and narrow shape," explained Tringides. "It’s a bit like throwing a box of uncooked spaghetti on the floor – because the noodles are all long and thin, they’re likely to cross each other at multiple points. If you throw something shorter and rounder on the floor, like rice, many of the grains won’t touch at all.”

While the carbon nanotubes used are commercially available, the graphene flake suspension is a process patented by Swagֱ��, currently exploited for printed electronics and biomedical applications. This work demonstrated that you need both materials to achieve optimal electrode performance - carbon nanotubes or graphene alone would not suffice.

Cinzia Casiraghi, Professor of Nanoscience from the NGI and Department of Chemistry at Swagֱ��, said: “This work demonstrates that high-quality graphene dispersions - made in water by a simple process based on a molecule that one can buy from any chemical supply - have strong potential in bioelectronics. We are very interested in exploiting our graphene (and other 2D materials) inks in this field.”

Collaborative effort

Kostas Kostarelos, Professor of Nanomedicine and leader of the Nanomedicine Lab, added: “This truly collaborative effort between three institutions is a step forward in the development of softer, more adaptable and electroactive devices, where traditional technologies based on bulk and rigid materials cannot be applied to soft tissues such as the brain.”

This research in Swagֱ�� was supported by the EPSRC Programme Grant  and the International Centre-to-Centre grant with Harvard. Other funders include the: National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, Bertarelli Foundation, Wyss Center Geneva, and SNSF Sinergia. 

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

[Main image copyright of Wyss Institute at Harvard University]

In a world-first for the sector, the team has laid the floor slab of a new gym in Amesbury, Wiltshire with graphene-enhanced 'Concretene', removing 30% of material and all steel reinforcement. Depending on the size of onward projects, Nationwide Engineering estimates a 10-20% saving to its customers.

What's concrete's problem?

Production of cement for concrete in the building industry is one of the leading causes of global carbon dioxide emissions. Remarkably, if concrete were a country, it would be the third largest emitter in the world behind only China and the US, producing around 8% of global CO₂ emissions.

The addition of tiny amounts of graphene - a so-called ‘2D material’ made of a single layer of carbon atoms - strengthens Concretene by around 30% compared to standard RC30 concrete, meaning significantly less is needed to achieve the equivalent structural performance.

“We are thrilled to have developed and constructed this game-changing, graphene-enhanced concrete on a real project,” said Alex McDermott, co-founder and managing director of Nationwide Engineering, who is also a civil engineering graduate from Swagֱ��. “Together with our partners at Swagֱ��’s and structural engineers , we are rapidly evolving our knowledge and experience and are positioned for wider industry deployment through our construction frameworks, becoming the go-to company for graphene-enhanced concrete.”

What could this mean for the building industry?

Nationwide Engineering has three existing five-year construction frameworks with Network Rail and two seven-year Government Crown commercial building frameworks. With Network Rail committing to an 11% reduction in CO₂ emissions over the next four years, graphene-enhanced concrete shows significant potential to help meet this target.

For example, the HS2 high-speed rail project is expected to use 19.7 million tonnes of concrete, creating around 5 million tonnes of CO₂ (around 1.4% of UK annual CO₂ emissions). And that’s just in concrete production, before you add in the hundreds of thousands of train and lorry journeys needed to transport the material to site.

While there is still distance to travel between a low-risk floor slab and the performance requirements of high-speed rail, a 30% reduction in material across a range of engineering applications would make a significant difference to environmental impact and costs in the construction industry.

Rolled out across the global building industry supply chain, the technology has the potential to shave 2% off worldwide emissions.

How does graphene-enhanced concrete work?

Liquid concrete sets into its solid form through chemical reactions known as hydration and gelation, where the water and cement in the mixture react to form a paste that dries and hardens over time.

Graphene makes a difference by acting as a mechanical support and as a catalyst surface for the initial hydration reaction, leading to better bonding at microscopic scale and giving the finished product improved strength, durability and corrosion resistance.

Crucially, Concretene can be used just like standard concrete, meaning no new equipment or training is needed in the batching or laying process, and cost-savings can be passed directly to the client.

Graphene@Swagֱ�� team on-site in Amesbury (l-r): Craig Dawson, Happiness Ijije, Lisa Scullion

Dr Craig Dawson, Application Manager at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, explained further: “We have produced a graphene-based additive mixture that is non-disruptive at the point of use. That means we can dose our additive directly at the batching plant where the concrete is being produced as part of their existing system, so there’s no change to production or to the construction guys laying the floor.

“We have been able to do this via thorough investigation - alongside our University colleagues from the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering - of the materials we are using and we can tailor this approach to use any supplier’s graphene, so we are not beholden to a single supplier,” he added. “This makes Concretene a more viable proposition as there is increased security of supply.”

At Amesbury, an initial pour of 234m² of Concretene was conducted on site on 6 May, with a further 495m² laid on Tuesday 25 May to complete the concrete floor slab. The graphene used for the pour on 25 May was supplied by .

Nationwide Engineering will manage and monitor the site during its fit-out and onward operation, effectively making the Southern Quarter gym - itself a carbon-neutral proposition - a ‘living laboratory’ to measure and evaluate the performance of the material.

The project has been funded by Nationwide Engineering, Innovate UK and the European Regional Development Fund’s Bridging the Gap programme as a joint venture with Swagֱ��’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) and Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE).

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons
 

This week (Tuesday 25 May), researchers at Swagֱ��’s National Graphene Institute (NGI) have published a study in  showing a dramatic decrease in friction when water is passed through nanoscale capillaries made of graphene, whereas those with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) - which has a similar surface topography and crystal structure as graphene - display high friction.

The team also demonstrated that water velocity could be selectively controlled by covering the high friction hBN channels with graphene, opening the door to greatly increased permeation and efficiency in so-called ‘smart membranes’.

Fast and selective fluid-flows are common in nature – for example in protein structures called aquaporins that transport water between cells in animals and plants. However, the precise mechanisms of fast water-flows across atomically flat surfaces are not fully understood.

Co-authors of the study (from left to right): Yi You,Solleti Goutham, Radha Boya and Ashok Keerthi

The investigations of the Swagֱ�� team, led by Professor Radha Boya, have shown that - in contrast to the widespread belief that all atomically flat surfaces that are hydrophobic should provide little friction for water flow - in fact the friction is mainly governed by electrostatic interactions between flowing molecules and their confining surfaces.

Dr Ashok Keerthi, first author of the study, said: “Though hBN has a similar water wettability as graphene and MoS₂, it surprised us that the flow of water is totally different! Interestingly, roughened graphene surface with few angstroms deep dents/terraces, or atomically corrugated MoS₂ surface, did not hinder water flows in nanochannels”.

Therefore, an atomically smooth surface is not the only reason for frictionless water flow on graphene. Rather the interactions between flowing water molecules and confining 2D materials play a crucial role in imparting the friction to the fluid transport inside nanochannels.

Useful in evaporation processes

Professor Boya said: “We have shown that nanochannels covered with graphene at the exits display enhance water flows. This can be very useful to increase the water flux from membranes, especially in those processes where evaporation is involved, such as distillation or thermal desalination.”

Understanding of liquid friction and interactions with pore materials is vital to the development of efficient membranes for applications such as energy storage and desalination. This latest study adds to an increasingly influential body of work from the researchers at the NGI, as Swagֱ�� reinforces its position at the forefront of nanofluidic research towards improved industrial applications for sectors including wastewater treatment, pharmaceutical production and food and beverages.

You can read more about the group’s work at the following links:

• Ultra-fast gas flows through tiniest holes in 2D membranes
• Swagֱ��: bringing clean water to the world
• Molymem: Swagֱ�� spin-out brings innovative water filtration tech to market

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

The 2021 event – held from 26-30 April and run by PhD students from Swagֱ�� – was hosted virtually due to Covid restrictions but the online platform had the benefit of turning the competition into a truly global affair. 

Thirty-five teams from around the world, including participants from Argentina, India and Indonesia, worked throughout the week on their ideas before pitching to a panel of industry experts.

Alongside the challenge element, the Hackathon team also produced a series of , detailing the uses and deployment of graphene in different fields, from water desalination to computing and space applications.

Attendees also took part in Q&A sessions with experts in graphene research and development, including pioneer and Nobel laureate Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov (below).

The event was hosted at the Bright Building at Swagֱ�� Science Park, generously provided free by Hackathon sponsor Bruntwood SciTech. MC duties were provided by science communicator, comedian and  Dr Luke Chaplin.

In the winners’ circle

First prize in the Healthcare Challenge went to the SENSE team for their smart, chronic wound-monitoring patch. They won £250, plus an additional £100 Innovation Prize, three months’ office space at Alderley Park (also courtesy of Bruntwood SciTech) and an hour’s IP consultancy time with Potter Clarkson.

Winners in the Sustainable Industry Challenege were Honeycomb Ink, with low-cost piezoelectric energy harvesting floor tiles for festivals and public events. They won £250, plus a £65 award from LABMAN Automation.

Other winners included:

• FRAS Sustainable Solutions: retrofitting graphene thermal management for plane wings to prevent ice formation.
• Nanocomb: eTextile muscle movement monitor for elite athletes, dubbed a ‘physio in your pocket’.
• Graphene Prosthetics Ltd: graphene nerve conduction prosthetics to alleviate phantom nerve pain in amputees.
• Hex: mattress topper sleep tracker.

Scott Dean, founder of , was a member of the Hackathon organising team of PhD researchers and said: “Hosting the Graphene Hackathon virtually this year gave us the opportunity to reach further than ever before. 

“We were amazed at the quality of the teams’ ideas, from energy harvesting systems to next-gen wireless chargers and remote health monitoring solutions. Each idea was very different from the next and each enabled by the same material – graphene.

“We are very grateful to our wonderful sponsors for all their support in making this event so successful, and to all the teams for their hard work.”

Scott also thanked the judging panel, featuring senior staff from LABMAN, Bruntwood SciTech, the Henry Royce Institute, Catalyst by Masdar, Nixene Publishing and the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre.

You can view the videos produced for this year’s event at the and find out more at .

Nobel Laureate Kostya Novoselov – who first isolated graphene with Andre Geim in 2004 – will be among the many experts and industry leaders who will be sharing some advice with those participating in this year’s virtual Hackathon.

The 2021 virtual hack follows the huge success of the first Graphene Hackathon, which was held in 2019. The inaugural event was led by graphene PhD students and hosted in the , the world-leading advanced materials accelerator based at the University.

Prize-winning innovations from the 2019 Hackathon included:

• Glovene - a set of gloves that used accelerometers and impedance measurements across graphene tracks to interpret sign language in real-time (team pictured below with cheques for their two prizes).
• BackUP - a seat-cover aimed at freight drivers with graphene ink printed strain sensors that could be used to determine and advise on healthy back-posture.
• LiquiDentity - a low-cost, effective graphene ink sensor that could be used to carry-out quick analysis of soil solutions, providing an indication of crop yield and health. This won the GEIC £5,000 investment prize.

“The Graphene Hackathon aims to rethink the traditional product development process and unlock the entrepreneur in everyone by providing a dynamic space for rapid learning, failure and innovation,” said James Baker, CEO Graphene@Swagֱ��.

“The graphene community in Swagֱ�� is among the brightest in the world – and the goal is to maximise the impact it can have in real-world applications.”

The 2021 Hackathon sets a three-part virtual challenge:

• develop a world-beating business concept: participating teams have one week to design a hypothetical product using graphene and develop a business plan with help from ‘graphene mentors’.
• learn more about graphene: by engaging in a week-long programme of videos, interviews, demonstrations and Q&A sessions.
• the pitch: from their business plan, competing teams have to make a three-minute elevator-style pitch for a chance to win cash prizes, exclusive event merchandise, ‘cool tech’ and a place at the planned Graphene Hackathon 2.0 to make their idea a reality.

The teams may focus on one of three themes: Sustainable Industries, Health Technology and Gadgets.

Creative challenge

“Essentially, competing teams will be invited to participate in five evenings of pitching, workshops and stakeholder talks,” said Scott Dean, from the Graphene Hackathon’s organising team.

“Challenges will be set by industrial sponsors and participants. Then they have four days to find a solution to the problem using graphene and prepare a business idea. They also have to create a three-minute video and ultimately submit a convincing pitch to deadline. Teams will be judged on creativity, feasibility and impact.

“But we also expect there will be fun and learning along the way," Scott added. "Each evening will include talks from cutting-edge graphene and 2D materials researchers, discussing topics from desalination to energy, from computing to space - all in an accessible format, as well as commercialisation talks from start-ups, IP firms and innovation accelerators.”

Organisations that are supporting this year’s event include Bruntwood SciTech, Catalyst (a Masdar-BP initiative), Dicey Tech, First Graphene, Graphene Trace, Graphene@Swagֱ��, Graphene NOWNANO, Henry Royce Institute, Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), Labman, Swagֱ�� Nanomaterials, Nixene Publishing and Potter Clarkson.

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

The firm is also in the process of increasing its presence and capabilities in the  (GEIC) at Swagֱ��.

The new company will work in partnership with the University as part of a global strategic alliance, with the aim of becoming a leading developer of graphene-enhanced products in the Americas.

Gerdau Graphene will operate independently from its parent company's steel business divisions. It will offer pioneering technology to the construction, industrial and automotive lubricants, rubber, thermoplastics, coatings and sensors industries in Brazil and in countries across North America.

The new company is part of the portfolio of Gerdau Next, the new business division launched by Gerdau in the second half of 2020 to operate in new segments apart from steel.

Global credibility

"Our market entry is unique, thanks to our proposition of making graphene production on a large scale commercially viable," explained Alexandre Corrêa, General Manager of Gerdau Graphene.

"We are reaching the market with the advantage of being part of a solid group that enjoys high global credibility, whilst operating under the philosophy of open innovation in collaboration with multiple ecosystems and partners."

“We have already been working with graphene in Swagֱ�� – the ‘home of graphene’ – since 2019. Thanks to strategic alliances already established in this new business, we are confident that Gerdau Graphene will be an important player in the Americas.”

Gerdau has been researching graphene for four years. In 2019, it entered into a partnership with the GEIC to conduct research on graphene. At the time, Gerdau joined a select group of companies across the globe with exclusive space for research at the GEIC, a global centre of excellence in graphene innovation, whose leaders advocates open innovation and collaboration.

“Having Gerdau as a Tier 1 Partner of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre has been rewarding for all concerned,” said James Baker, CEO Graphene@Swagֱ��.

“This is a company that has a strong heritage but also continues to pioneer and through Gerdau Graphene will open a new chapter for partnership and collaboration between us. This is a very exciting opportunity.”

Expanding network in Swagֱ��

Senior Project Manager for Gerdau Graphene, Danilo Mariano, who is based in the GEIC, added: “When you live for advanced materials innovation there is no better place to be in Europe than Swagֱ��.

“We are adding personnel and equipment to support material platform development in our lab space in the GEIC. We’re also expanding our collaborations within academia through as well as partnering with high-potential start-ups.”

David Hilton, Head of Business Development (Advanced Manufacturing) for , Greater Swagֱ��’s inward investment agency, said: “It’s fantastic news that Gerdau want to grow their business working in a strategic partnership with Swagֱ�� after experiencing the huge value of working at the GEIC and the support of the wider ecosystem based in Swagֱ��.”

Gerdau Graphene already has strategic alliances with major graphene developers, including fellow GEIC Tier 1 Partner First Graphene, with whom Gerdau signed in March 2021. In the Brazilian market, it has strategic partnerships in the automotive sector with Baterias Moura and SKF do Brasil to develop applications in energy storage, rubber, composites and coatings.

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

outlines applications for this ‘smart surface’ technology range from next-generation display devices to dynamic thermal blankets for satellites and multi-spectral adaptive camouflage.

The devices’ tunability is achieved by a process known as electro-intercalation, which in this case involves lithium ions being interposed between sheets of multilayer graphene (MLG), offering control over electrical, thermal and magnetic properties.

The MLG device is laminated and vacuum-sealed in a low-density polyethylene pouch that has over 90% optical transparency from visible light to microwave radiation.

Charge turns grey to gold

During charge (intercalation) or discharge (de-intercalation), the electrical and optical properties of MLG change dramatically. The discharged device appears dark grey owing to the high absorptivity (>80%) of the top graphene layer in the visible regime. When the device is fully charged (at ~3.8V), the graphene layer appears gold in colour. The achievable colour space can be enriched to include a range from red to blue using optical effects such as thin-film interference.

Professor Coskun Kocabas, lead author of the study, said: “We have fabricated a new class of multispectral optical devices with previously unachievable colour-changing ability by merging graphene and battery technology.

“The successful demonstration of graphene-based smart optical surfaces enables potential advances in many scientific and engineering fields.”

For example, a dynamic thermal blanket could selectively reflect visible or infrared light and allow a satellite to reflect radiation from the side facing the sun, while emitting radiation from its shaded faces. Similarly, when in Earth’s shadow, that blanket can insulate the satellite from deep-space cooling [see figure below]. These actions would regulate internal temperatures far more effectively than a static thermal coating.

Previous studies have examined devices at specific wavelength ranges of , ,  and , using single and multilayer graphene. But it was the challenge of extending coverage to visible light while maintain optical activity at longer wavelength that required innovation in the structure of the device, overcoming established difficulties in the .

“Here we used a graphene-based lithium-ion battery as an optical device,” he added. “By controlling the electron density of the graphene, we are now able control light from visible to microwave wavelengths on the same device.”

Nobel laureate Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov was a co-author on the paper and said: “Few-layer graphene offers unprecedented control over its optical properties through charging. Such devices can find their applications in many areas: from adaptive optics to thermal management.”

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons