Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GrapheneCore3 (Graphene Flagship Core Project 3)
Período documentado: 2020-04-01 hasta 2021-09-30
This report describes the progress of the Graphene Flagship during the first 18 months of the third core project (Core 3), corresponding to a period that covers months 79-96 of the Graphene Flagship project. This period has witnessed a general shift towards higher technology readiness levels and an increased role of system-level research, e.g. by the spearhead (SH) projects that build upon the results of the earlier parts of the project, and that were launched at the beginning of Core 3. This shows that the Graphene Flagship is well on the way towards realizing its overarching goal of taking graphene from academic laboratories to society.
During much of the reporting period, many partners were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic that caused difficulties in reaching some of the project's ambitious targets. While the situation has gradually improved towards the end of the period, it has nevertheless led to some delays.
During much of the reporting period, many partners were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic that caused difficulties in reaching some of the project's ambitious targets. While the situation has gradually improved towards the end of the period, it has nevertheless led to some delays.
The main results of the Core 3 project thus far are described in the progress reports of the different work packages (WPs) and spearheads (SHs). In this general part we can only provide a few examples that illustrate the breadth of the work carried out in the Graphene Flagship.
Starting with the most fundamental studies, the WP Enabling Science (WP1) has focused on the so-called twistronic structures, multilayered stacks of two-dimensional materials where the orientation of the layers is carefully controlled. Many of the properties of the stacks depend so sensitively on the twist angle that twistronics can be described as a new direction, or dimension, of physical chemistry or materials science. Careful control of the twist angle (to within 0.2°) can be used to introduce superconductivity or ferroelectricity and opens completely new possibilities for technologies that are now being intensely researched globally.
Moving on to a somewhat more mature technology, we can mention the universal spin logic structures studied in WP Spintronics (WP2). These reprogrammable structures work as all-spin logical OR or AND gates and can combine logic and non-volatile memory functions in a single circuit. Fundamentally, the structures are made possible by the long spin coherence length within graphene.
WP Functional Foams and Coatings (WP13) has been studying a material called aero-graphene, a graphene-based foam. Due to its very low thermal capacity, the material can be heated extremely rapidly at rates up to 300,000 K/s, which opens numerous possibilities as, e.g. mechanical actuators or high-power pumps. In the SH AeroGraft (SH6) this rapid heating of aero-graphene is exploited in an air filter for the passenger compartment of airplanes. The concept has already been validated and now the work is focused on compatibility with the existing airplane constructions to enable a straightforward replacement of current filter solutions by the new technology. However, many validation steps remain before these filters can be found in commercial planes.
SH GBIRCAM (SH7) deals with graphene-based infrared cameras and has introduced the next product in their line of cameras, following after the single-pixel unit and the line sensor. The 80x60 superpixel unit incorporates three detectors per pixel, thereby covering a wide range of frequencies from visible to medium wavelength infrared. Its applications include, among other things, identifying different materials in a recycling facility.
As the last example, WP Biomedical Technologies (WP5) has recently spun off the company InBrain that aims at commercializing the neural electrode technology that has been developed in the Graphene Flagship. The company has already attracted some 17.5 million euros venture capital, which shows strong belief in graphene-based biomedical technologies. This view is further strengthened by the collaboration agreement InBrain recently signed with Merck on graphene-based bioelectronic vagus nerve therapies, targeting severe chronic diseases within the therapeutic areas addressed by Merck.
Starting with the most fundamental studies, the WP Enabling Science (WP1) has focused on the so-called twistronic structures, multilayered stacks of two-dimensional materials where the orientation of the layers is carefully controlled. Many of the properties of the stacks depend so sensitively on the twist angle that twistronics can be described as a new direction, or dimension, of physical chemistry or materials science. Careful control of the twist angle (to within 0.2°) can be used to introduce superconductivity or ferroelectricity and opens completely new possibilities for technologies that are now being intensely researched globally.
Moving on to a somewhat more mature technology, we can mention the universal spin logic structures studied in WP Spintronics (WP2). These reprogrammable structures work as all-spin logical OR or AND gates and can combine logic and non-volatile memory functions in a single circuit. Fundamentally, the structures are made possible by the long spin coherence length within graphene.
WP Functional Foams and Coatings (WP13) has been studying a material called aero-graphene, a graphene-based foam. Due to its very low thermal capacity, the material can be heated extremely rapidly at rates up to 300,000 K/s, which opens numerous possibilities as, e.g. mechanical actuators or high-power pumps. In the SH AeroGraft (SH6) this rapid heating of aero-graphene is exploited in an air filter for the passenger compartment of airplanes. The concept has already been validated and now the work is focused on compatibility with the existing airplane constructions to enable a straightforward replacement of current filter solutions by the new technology. However, many validation steps remain before these filters can be found in commercial planes.
SH GBIRCAM (SH7) deals with graphene-based infrared cameras and has introduced the next product in their line of cameras, following after the single-pixel unit and the line sensor. The 80x60 superpixel unit incorporates three detectors per pixel, thereby covering a wide range of frequencies from visible to medium wavelength infrared. Its applications include, among other things, identifying different materials in a recycling facility.
As the last example, WP Biomedical Technologies (WP5) has recently spun off the company InBrain that aims at commercializing the neural electrode technology that has been developed in the Graphene Flagship. The company has already attracted some 17.5 million euros venture capital, which shows strong belief in graphene-based biomedical technologies. This view is further strengthened by the collaboration agreement InBrain recently signed with Merck on graphene-based bioelectronic vagus nerve therapies, targeting severe chronic diseases within the therapeutic areas addressed by Merck.
By now, the Graphene Flagship has resulted in more than 4,400 publications that have been cited more than 180,000 times, showing the remarkable academic output of the project. Academic output is, however, only a means to an end: our end goals are technological and societal impacts which both take longer to materialize. Yet, also in that respect we are performing well, as is evident from the fact that thus far 16 new companies have been spun off by Graphene Flagship partners, two of them during the first 18 months of Core 3, and many of them have attracted substantial private funding to take their technologies further to the market place. The size of the core project has stabilized at about 170 partners, but we see substantial growth in the number of Associated Members (today 100). Most of the Associated Members are industrial, which further strengthens the impact of the project.
The specific impacts of the Graphene Flagship cover a wide range of fields and are described in more detail in the progress reports written by the WPs and SHs. A few highlights include biomedical technologies with focus on using graphene electrodes to monitor and stimulate brain activity, which has led to a new spin-off company InBrain, new types of batteries for electronics and automotive applications developed by partners in WP Energy Storage (WP12) and SH GreenBat (SH9), faster and more energy-efficient communication systems pursued by WPs Electronic Devices (WP7), Photonics and Optoelectronics (WP8) and Wafer-Scale Integration (WP10) and SH Metrograph (SH4), and the many applications in the area of composite materials that are the focus of WPs Functional Foams and Coatings (WP13) and Polymer Composites (WP14) and SHs GICE (SH10), AeroGraft (SH6) and G+Board (SH2). These impacts rely on results from the earlier phases of the project, such as the roughly 70 already granted patents and some 130 patent applications that are still pending.
The specific impacts of the Graphene Flagship cover a wide range of fields and are described in more detail in the progress reports written by the WPs and SHs. A few highlights include biomedical technologies with focus on using graphene electrodes to monitor and stimulate brain activity, which has led to a new spin-off company InBrain, new types of batteries for electronics and automotive applications developed by partners in WP Energy Storage (WP12) and SH GreenBat (SH9), faster and more energy-efficient communication systems pursued by WPs Electronic Devices (WP7), Photonics and Optoelectronics (WP8) and Wafer-Scale Integration (WP10) and SH Metrograph (SH4), and the many applications in the area of composite materials that are the focus of WPs Functional Foams and Coatings (WP13) and Polymer Composites (WP14) and SHs GICE (SH10), AeroGraft (SH6) and G+Board (SH2). These impacts rely on results from the earlier phases of the project, such as the roughly 70 already granted patents and some 130 patent applications that are still pending.