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Developing advanced graphene materials for industry

Friday, 8 December 2017

Research and development around new applications and industries based on the advanced material graphene – hailed as the “miracle material of the 21st century” – is the focus of a new Graphene Research Hub being launched at the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide today.

The ARC Research Hub for Graphene Enabled Industry Transformation will develop high-value products and innovative solutions for industries as diverse as agriculture, mining, construction, medical technologies and defence.

The Research Hub is supporting commercialisation of graphene research in a partnership between universities and industry partners. It is funded by the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n Government through the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n Research Council’s Industrial Transformation Research Hubs scheme with a $2.6 million grant, with industry partners contributing over $3 million.

Graphene is produced from graphite which is mined from the ground. South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ has the largest deposit of high quality of graphite in ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥, at 200 million tonnes. Graphene has unique properties and is so thin that one gram of graphene can cover the size of a football oval.

“Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms that holds unrivalled material properties – it’s the thinnest, strongest, lightest material known, with the greatest surface area, and the best electrical and thermal conductivity properties of any other material, as well as being flexible, water repellent and non-toxic with some anti-bacterial properties,” says , Director of the ARC Research Hub for Graphene Enabled Industry Transformation, which is based in the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide’s School of Chemical Engineering.

“It has the potential for new disruptive technology that will change our lives and create new industries, the same as silicon did 60 years ago.”

The research group in Adelaide are already working on a new generation of fire retardant products, construction materials, advanced protective coatings for defence and industrial applications including slow-release fertilisers; and new electrical devices and super-batteries.

“The aim is that our research will transform industry and support ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n businesses to embrace cutting-edge innovation and technologies that deliver high-value returns and build new industries,” Professor Losic says. “We have a vision of South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ becoming the ‘Graphene Valley’ of ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥.”

The ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide will lead the new ARC Research Hub with collaborators at Monash ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥, ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Melbourne and ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥. The commercial partners are Archer Exploration Limited, Ziltek Pty Ltd, Qingdao Huagao Graphene Technology Corporation Limited, First Graphene Limited, and Cleanfuture Energy ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ Pty Ltd.

The Hub also has a training component with a cohort of postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers.

The ARC Research Hub for Graphene Enabled Industry Transformation is the third industrial transformation hub led by the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide. It already has the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Wheat in a Hot and Dry Climate, based at our Waite campus, and the ARC Research Hub for ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n Copper-Uranium.

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