Cecorelax launched a pillow made from memory-foam enhanced with graphene particles, called the “Graphene Memory Foam Pillow”. Cecorelax says that the pillow helps maintain body temperature during the night, and is highly resistant, light and flexible.
Graphene was first isolated in 2004 in Manchester, UK. As James Baker at the NGI noted, 2017 was the year it became a teenager. Read on to take a look at what this thirteen-year-old miracle material has done and what it might be capable of in future…
Graphene is currently commercially made from graphite. This creates tiny pieces of material called nanoplatelets. Such is the exceptional nature of the material that these very small pieces can confer performance improvements in a range of materials. Here are a few of the topics we covered.
One day this past September, I found myself on a shuttle bus heading 20 minutes outside the center of Barcelona to the Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, or ICFO (Institute of Photonic Sciences).
After five years of covering the groundbreaking photonics research coming out of this relatively small research institute nestled in the northeast corner of Spain, I figured it was time to visit the people and the facility that has had everyone buzzing since its participation at the 2016 GSMA Mobile World Congress. At this event, held in Barcelona that year, the world’s mobile network and device companies recognized that ICFO was offering a potential solution to a technological showstopper to the rollout of 5G networks: data centers that consume too much energy and don’t offer enough bandwidth.
Ghostek announced a new graphene-based headphones, the Rapture Wireless Headphones. Ghostek says that the Rapture uses 40 mm graphene drivers to deliver a “Next-Level HD Audio Experience”. Other features include Bluetooth 4.1+EDR, aptX Audio Technology, soft protein leather ear cups, a 3.5mm audio jack input, built-in HD microphone and a LED battery status.
A new graphene-based fast charging USB-C battery pack has started its crowdfunding quest on Kickstarter. At the time of writing, the campaign already raised $48,860, much more than the pledged $10,000 goal. Describing itself as the world’s first portable USB-C power bank which works using graphene-based composite packs, it is smaller than many power packs available on the market, and promises to be able to recharge in just 20 minutes.
They claim to have developed a novel aluminum-graphene battery that is more cold-resistant, can work in temperatures ranging from -40 C to 120 C and is less flammable.
2017 is over – and it was a good year for the graphene industry. More and more graphene-enhanced products are launched on the market in many industries – including sports equipment, sensors, audio, energy and more. Production capacity is increasing, prices are going down and it seems that graphene is finally starting to fulfill its promise.
Akshay Singhal started the company while studying B.Tech at IIT Roorkee along with his father, who now handles manufacturing for the company He is also pursuing a PhD in nanotechnology.
The Shenzhen Geim Graphene Research Center was established in Shenzhen, China in early December. The new center joins other prominent research centers and labs named after and led by Nobel laureates such as Robert H. Grubbs, Shuji Nakamura and Barry Marshall, all pioneers in global science, and technology trends in energy, materials, optics and medicine.
Graphene is known to possess strong optical nonlinearity which turned out to be suitable for creation of efficient saturable absorbers in mode locked fiber lasers. Nonlinear response of graphene can be further enhanced by the presence of graphene plasmons.