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Quick facts about Graphene:
- Graphene occurs naturally in graphite, has unique physical properties and might be one of the strongest substances known.
- 200x stronger than steel and so thin that it is transparent
- The process of separating it from graphite will require some technological development before it is economically feasible to use it in industrial processes
- Focus Graphite is a 40% shareholder in Grafoid Inc., a privately-held joint venture, to develop and acquire patent applications, secure intellectual property and develop graphene applications
A number of multinationals are active in graphene research and development (e.g. Intel and IBM in computing, Dow Chemicals and BASF as suppliers of basic graphene material, and Samsung in consumer electronics).
Graphene’s emergence as the “new silicon” and Focus Graphite’s participation at the graphene development and patenting level primes the company – and shareholders – to reap the rewards from emerging applications that will replace aging computing, communications and industrial technologies.
According to the renowned research scientist Dr. Gordon Chiu, VP and Chief Scientist of Focus Graphite’s Graphene Joint Venture – Grafoid Inc, the quality of the graphite source – which Focus Graphite holds in abundance – directly affects the quality and performance state of graphene, an allotrope of carbon that holds unique physical properties.
“Scientifically and commercially, the Focus Graphite business program looks for definites; looks to financially minimize risk, and; ultimately, looks to maximize shareholder value,” Dr. Chiu said.
Graphene is considered to be one of the strongest substances known to science. It occurs naturally in graphite; is 200 times stronger than steel and is so thin it is transparent, but, unlike its source, diamond, it is flexible and electrically conductive.
It is anticipated the first consumer products using graphene will be released by the fourth quarter of 2011 or early 2012 as components of computing or communications devices.
As a transistor, graphene holds remarkable advantages over silicon in terms of processing speed and, more importantly, by obviating the need for internal cooling fans as it functions at room temperature.
As a component for industrial, aviation and infrastructural use, for example, graphene’s lightness and strength provide opportunities for those sectors to re-think engineering design and functionality.
Electric Cars etc: - Graphene for use in graphene-saturated battery and super-charging capacitor applications. For investors in those sectors, the long-term cost-savings inherent with those sectoral applications are incalculable at this time.
The trillion dollars spent globally on research and development on fullerenes and carbon nano-tubes during the last two decades laid the scientific groundwork for today’s application development of graphene.
The difference today is that graphene provides a stable, practical and useful material which has, as of yet, no equal in nature, in science, or in manufactured applications.
Graphene, according to some observers, will change the way we live.
But what is it?
The Focus Graphite Graphene Joint Venture
- Graphene is taken from graphite, which is made up of weakly bonded layers of carbon.
- Graphene is composed of carbon atoms arranged in tightly bound hexagons just one atom thick.
- Three million sheets of graphene on top of each other would be 1mm thick.
- The band structure of graphite was first theorised and calculated by P.R. Wallace in 1947, though for it to exist in the real world was thought impossible.
- Due to the timing of this discovery, some conspiracy theorists have linked it to materials at the Roswell “crash site”.
- In 2004, teams including Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov demonstrated that single layers could be isolated, resulting in the award of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010.
Grafoid Inc., headed by VP and Chief Scientist Dr. Gordon Chiu, surprised the scientific community in early 2011 when it announced its entrance into the graphene development arena – a domain dominated by industrial heavyweights IBM, Intel and Samsung.
Grafoid, however, distinguishes itself with an understanding it has no competitors in its class, and its commercial development interests, under Dr. Chiu’s direction, are focused on high-value, near-to-market graphene applications.
(The proprietary nature of some 25 specific projects at this time preclude the company from identifying its commercial development targets).
The joint venture’s goal, said Dr. Chiu, “is to find a basket of self-sustaining technologies that require Focus Graphite’s participation to help them scale to their ultimate objectives.”
“They will need tons – not kilos – of graphene for their manufacturing processes,” Dr. Chiu said. “And the quality of the graphite will directly affect the graphene. Focus Graphite will have a significant advantage here.”
In December 2011, Grafoid and Rutgers University AMIPP Advanced Polymer Center signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop and commercialize polymer and no-polymer technology graphene applications from Focus Graphite’s Lac Knife Graphite project.
Graphene is a remarkable substance.Tens of billions of dollars are currently being spent on graphene research globally at university laboratories and in corporate research and development facilities in three principal sectors, namely: consumer electronics; computing devices and, industrial materials.
Additional research on a smaller scale is being applied to bio-medical application discoveries throughout the world.
For more information visit: www.FocusGraphite.com
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