| Oct 01, 2013 |
Graphene industry to focus on low hanging fruits
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(Nanowerk News) The graphene industry is moving beyond the hype and is focusing on realistic low hanging fruits. The production methods are fast improving, making volume production at competitive prices possible in the medium term. Most suppliers are fast moving up the value chain to focus on higher value added products such as master-batches or inks. Significant money continues to be poured into R&D, company formation and scale-up across the world. This industry is changing and growing up fast.
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The Graphene LIVE! USA event has lined up top-class speakers for its business-orientated conference and tradeshow on graphene. You will hear from leading academics, producers and end users. The discussion will focus on latest application ideas and roadmaps, new and improved production methods, and the latest commercialisation progress and challenges across a variety of sectors including energy storage, transparent conductive films and printed electronics.
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IDTechEx also organises parallel conferences on transparent conductive films, supercapacitors and printed electronics, all of which are primary target applications for graphene. This ensures that our attendees learn the latest in terms of needs and commercialisation progress from relevant end user groups, while also being able to simultaneously assess technologies competing against graphene.
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Application ideas
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This is the biggest question facing graphene- what are the killer applications? At Graphene LIVE! USA, graphene companies will announce and discuss their latest application ideas for graphene. Tata Steel, Vorbeck Materials, Xolve and Graphene Technologies will specifically focus on this.
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Energy storage
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The energy storage sector is a promising target market for graphene. This market includes both supercapacitor and Li-ion battery electrodes. Graphene has potential to deliver value in the supercapacitor sector given that these devices demand high surface area between electrodes and the electrolytes. The supercapacitors are also a fast-growing sector which is projected to grow to $11 billion in 2023.
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At Graphene LIVE! USA, you will hear first-hand from Cabot Corporation, which is commercialising graphene-based additives aimed at Li-ion battery electrodes. You will also hear from Graphenea, Graphene Devices and Graphene Frontiers, which are also focusing on supercapacitors.
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Leading supercapacitor companies such as Maxwell Technologies and Cap-XX, as well as IDTechEx analysts will outline the commercial opportunities and challenges facing the supercapacitor industry as a whole.
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Production methods
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Volume production cost of graphene is still too high for many applications. This is particularly relevant because the go-to-market strategy in many sectors is replacing an existing material. The production method also has a direct bearing on the material properties of graphene and therefore the potential end use applications.
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At Graphene LIVE! USA, you will hear about latest developments on production techniques. PPG Industries, Grafoid, Incubation Alliance, Durham Graphene Science, 2D-Tech and Angstron Materials will also discuss their production methods, which cover a broad range of techniques including exfoliation, substrate-less CVD, oxidisation-reduction, plasma, etc.
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Transparent conductive films
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Transparent conductive film and glass markets are booming and also being fast transformed. The market will grow to $6.3 billion in 2024. Crucially, the needs of the industry are fast changing with the advent of large-area, current-driven and/or flexible devices. This opens the space for a range of alternatives to the incumbent ITO. The emerging contenders are silver nanowires, metal mesh, carbon nanotubes, PEDOT and graphene.
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At Graphene Live!, you will hear from leading companies that target the transparent conductive film market such as Bluestone Global Tech. Crucially, you will also hear from leading players working on rival materials such as carbon nanotubes, silver nanowires, and PEDOT. Some notable speakers here include Canatu, Brewer Science, Agfa, Carestream Advanced Materials, Rolith, Blue Nano, Cambrios, Uni-Pixel, Synaptics, etc. This is set to give you an in-depth yet comprehensive view of the changing technology and market landscape for transparent conductive films.
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Printed Electronics
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Graphene can be formulated into printable conductive (and also in some instances transparent) inks. This is one of the lowest hanging fruits for graphene suppliers as both the technology and market barriers are low compared to many other target markets. At Graphene LIVE! USA, you will hear from XG Sciences, University of Cambridge, and Cambridge Graphene Platform on graphene inks.
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It is crucial to also note that all key players across the value chain of printed electronics will speak and/or exhibit at our co-located conference and exhibition. This will give you the chance to hear the latest from potential end user, and also technological rivals to graphene inks. Some notable companies in this respect include NanoIntegris, Okayama University, Toyobo, and Intrinsiq Materials,
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Novel types of graphene and other 2D materials
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2D materials are extending beyond just graphene to cover a wealth of novel materials with promising properties. At Graphene LIVE! USA, you will hear from Momentive Performance Materials, AZEM, Graphene Laboratories and Cambridge Platform about other 2D or high-aspect ratio nano materials.
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