Project description
Accelerating market entry of graphene derivatives
Graphene is an amazing two-dimensional carbon-based material with numerous extraordinary properties, which make it ideal for use in countless applications. The enormous application potential of graphene can be further developed via chemical functionalisation. Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) are prominent graphene derivatives and are much more reactive and attractive for industrial applications. The EU-funded perGOla project will help commercialise the rGO graphene derivative and accelerate its market entry. The project aims to reduce the production costs up to EUR 400 per kilogramme and increase its production scale through automated manufacturing technology. Project activities are expected to overcome the barrier to rGO commercialisation.
Objective
Despite its unique properties, graphene is relatively chemically inert, but its derivatives, graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) are much more reactive and attractive for industrial applications. rGO bears some remnant oxygen groups and holes that allow the possibility of functionalisation. Tailoring the oxygen content in rGO (C/O-ratio) controls its properties and modulates its performance, therefore, the capability of controlling the C/O-ratio is crucial.
The challenge is that rGO is not widely available at a commercial scale, even with a clear and identified market need for graphene derivatives. The Graphene Council identify 3 main barriers to commercialisation for graphene derivatives: cost of production; limitations of large-scale production and lack of quality assurance standards.
Abalonyx will address these challenges through the perGOla project by:
1) Reducing the production cost of rGO to 100-400 €/kg (from 2,500 €/kg)
2) Increasing the large-scale production of rGO up to ~4 kg/day (1,200 kg/year) through the first industrial automated manufacturing process.
3) Offering the most reliable rGO production line in the market since perGOla process will use GO manufactured in-house
4) Increasing the C/O- ratio up to 100, and tailoring the C/O-ratio and number of layers in the rGO
Abalonyx, leader in graphene sector, is a worldwide supplier of GO and rGO to research institutes, universities, SMEs such as Provexo, and “big players” such as ABB, Apple INC, and Tata Steel. 15% of our customers are recurrent customers.
We have strong support from end-users such as Qenos, an Australian composite manufacturer who is interested in large amounts of rGO, or European Thermodynamics Limited, who requires rGO at a cost-effective price for the development of thermal interface materials, will help us to accelerate the commercialisation of perGOla. Within 6-years of commercialization, we expect €25m of cumulative profit to achieve an ROI of 11.5.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
0373 Oslo
Norway
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.