What are the main application areas of graphene?

As a kind of "excellent student type" nano new material, graphene has outstanding properties and a wide range of applications, and is currently mainly used in energy, composite materials, filtration and purification. Due to the high cost of graphene research and development, has not yet fully realized industrialization, so the market application has not been fully promoted, the future with the maturity of technology and commercial, graphene is expected to be applied in more and more fields. For example, the following ten areas of business development applications.

Section One: Electronic components

Graphene-based materials show advantages in efficient energy storage devices. Researchers have reported special electrical properties of graphene-based materials that could potentially be used to produce better energy storage devices. This direction of development is in line with theoretical predictions made three years ago by physicists at the University of Luxembourg about the unusual characteristics of special composite materials. These calculations have now been confirmed by the "Paul PASCAL Research Center" in Bordeaux, France, named high-K materials, which can be used to produce more efficient energy storage devices - making electronics smaller, faster and more efficient. Early calculations were disappointing - unlike polymers and carbon nanotubes and composites, composites made of specific polymers and sheets of graphene did not increase the material's electrical conductivity as expected. These bad news affect the development prospects of graphene in conductive composites.

Section Two: Battery

New energy batteries are an important field for the first commercial use of graphene. Earlier, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has successfully developed flexible photovoltaic panels with graphene nanocoatings on the surface, which can greatly reduce the cost of manufacturing transparent deformable solar cells, which can be used in night vision goggles, cameras and other small digital devices. The successful research and development of graphene super batteries has solved the problem of insufficient capacity and long charging time of new energy vehicle batteries, which has greatly accelerated the development of new energy battery industry. This series of research results pave the way for the application of graphene in the new energy battery industry.

In addition, researchers have confirmed the preparation of a lithium-ion battery made of graphene and silicon, which can be used for a week on a single charge and can be charged in just 15 minutes. Huawei has also published its research on graphene-based lithium-ion batteries, which have higher heat resistance and last twice as long as traditional lithium-ion batteries.

Section Three: Composite Materials

The performance and functionality of polymer systems can be improved by adding graphene to the surface of the material and employing other auxiliary processes. By adding a small amount of graphene, the stiffness and strength of epoxy resin can be doubled, and the compressive performance of carbon fiber-reinforced systems can be significantly improved. This holds great potential for providing stronger new generation polymers and composite materials for aerospace, high-performance automobiles, wind energy, and sports applications.

Researchers have added carbon nanotube graphene to epoxy resin composites and applied them to the leading edge of helicopter rotor blades. Under certain conditions, these composites can melt ice layers that are 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) thick.

Vittoria, an international bicycle wheel manufacturer, sells bicycle wheels made from graphene-enhanced composite materials. Graphene provides advantages such as heat dissipation (reducing temperatures by 15-30°C) and increased lateral stiffness (over 50%). Applied Graphene Materials has announced that it has provided graphene materials for fishing rods manufactured by Century Composites in the UK. HEAD has also launched graphene-enhanced ski boards called Joy for women, aiming for lightweight durability.

Section Four: Sensors

Graphene has been extensively developed for sensor applications due to its unique properties, including a large volume ratio, unique optical characteristics, and excellent electrical properties. It has been applied in the diagnosis of glucose, cholesterol, hemoglobin, and cancer cells. Additionally, it can be used as a pH sensor to detect pollutants. Graphene-based pressure sensors are particularly attractive to the aviation industry due to their small footprint and lightweight construction.

Graphene does not oxidize in air or biological fluids. By applying graphene as a biosensor, through the configuration of graphene circuits as field-effect biosensors and controlling the voltage difference between graphene and liquid samples in bio-tests, graphene can capture biological molecules and act as a barrier between the graphene circuit and the biological test sample. Among various types of graphene sensors, biosensors are the first type to be commercially available.

Section Five: Medical

Graphene is expected to be used as a drug delivery platform for cancer treatment in the medical field. It also has the potential to be used as an enhancer in tissue engineering. However, these applications are not likely to enter the market in the near future, and accelerating their commercialization has become a hot topic.

Tissue Engineering: Graphene is used as an enhancer in tissue engineering to improve the mechanical properties of biodegradable polymer nanocomposites for engineering bone tissues.

Biomedical Imaging: Functionalized graphene solutions dispersed in surfactants have been designed as blood pool MRI contrast agents. Additionally, iodine and manganese doped with graphene nanoparticles have become multimodal MRI and computed tomography (CT) contrast agents.

Drug Delivery: Researchers at Monash University have discovered that graphene can effectively adsorb cancer cells, making it possible to design drug delivery systems for cancer treatment.

Section Six: 3D Printing

Graphene 3D Labs, a graphene-based technology company, announced a private placement offering with a total price of CAD 850,000 (approximately USD 619,000). Each unit includes one common share and one non-transferable share purchase warrant. The company stated that the funds raised will primarily be used to expand its business and for general working capital purposes.

Section Seven: Coatings

Graphene oxide is used as an additive in coatings for various surfaces, ranging from glass to metal. Through simple chemical modifications, the resulting coatings exhibit graphite-like chemical and thermal stability while maintaining exceptional mechanical strength, similar to that of graphene.

Graphene coatings on steam condensers improve condensation efficiency by three times, resulting in a 2-3% increase in overall factory efficiency.

Graphene coatings may be introduced to the next generation of waterproofing devices, eliminating the need to seal the chassis of waterproof devices.

When graphene is used as a conductive additive, it can mitigate the problem of darkening primer colors caused by conductive additives, which is beneficial for improvements in automotive electrostatic spraying. Data shows that the primer coating value meets the color requirements for automotive electrostatic spraying with the addition of 2% to 4% graphene.

Section Eight: Conductive Printing and Packaging

Graphene-based inks offer high conductivity, flexibility, high-speed printing, and low-temperature curing. This means that printed products can be rubbed, bent, and folded without damage, while stably withstanding temperature, humidity, and corrosion, opening the door to printed electronic products for special applications such as medical devices, energy storage devices, high-resolution displays, as well as electrochemical and biochemical sensors.

Packaging company MWV, in partnership with Vorbeck Materials, has created graphene-based packaging with embedded security systems that can detect when products are being moved or removed.

Section Nine: Displays

A new transparent graphene electrode enhances the transparency and quality of OLED displays. Researchers at EYRI (Electronic and Telecommunication Research Institute) in South Korea have developed a transparent graphene-based electrode for OLED panels. The researchers claim that these new electrodes improve OLED transparency and "image quality" by 40-60% compared to current silver-based electrodes. They explain that current metal-based electrodes, mostly using silver, have a limitation in viewing angle due to internal light reflections and external light reflections that affect image quality. Graphene electrodes are transparent and can reduce this reflection by 40-60%.

Section Ten: Supercapacitors

Rice University has developed a flexible and efficient solid-state microsupercapacitor using laser-induced graphene (LIG), surpassing other competitors in energy storage and release. It is reported that this LIG microsupercapacitor can be charged 50 times faster than a battery, discharge slower than a traditional capacitor, and is comparable to commercial supercapacitors in terms of charging and discharging. This device applies commercial lasers to sinter electrode patterns on plastic sheets at room temperature, overcoming the manufacturing bottleneck associated with complex manufacturing processes for widespread microsupercapacitor deployment.

Furthermore, targeting the characteristics of graphene materials, there are significant commercial opportunities in applications such as smartphone heat dissipation films, lithium batteries, and semiconductors. International technology giants such as Samsung, LG, Google, IBM, and Huawei have invested heavily in the research and development of graphene technology. They have also extensively utilized graphene heat dissipation films in their product lines, installing them on the internal circuit boards of smartphones to help dissipate heat and transfer it to the outer casing.