Graphene is considered the next generation material for solar panel construction where it is expected to be a primary component in solar cells. By coating it with a silicon film, it retains its transparency and conductivity, thereby making it the best material for making solar cells thus far. The Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) Institute for Silicon Photovoltaics recently conducted a research which proved this fact. The findings have opened doors for the use of graphene in the thin-film photovoltaics industry.

Graphene solar cells

Graphene is an ideal material for solar cells because it’s transparent, cheap, a good conductor, and non-toxic. The transparency quality makes it a perfect material for solar cell construction because it does not reduce the amount of incoming light.

The Michigan Technological University researchers have made various developments in graphene solar cells. In the first case, they developed a structure so that the graphene sheets are held apart by lithium carbonate; this method has attained 7.8% efficiency. In the second case the researchers have worked out models of solar cells from single graphene and molybdenum diselenide cells; these are expected to produce 1,000 times more energy than that of equally weighing materials. In the third case, the MIT scientists have developed solar cells by combining graphene and zinc oxide, and the cost of producing these cells will be cheaper as compared to other options.

Another major development has been made by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Mass. They have built solar cells using graphene and AuCl3, this is an organic photovoltaic with a high absorption effect, low weight and low cost. Since these organic photovoltaics are transparent, it implies they can be used on windows, thereby enabling you to tap your solar energy conveniently.

Other developments of graphene in making solar cells have been done by the University of Florida in the US. They have achieved the most efficient graphene based solar cell (at 8.6%) by making of dope technology.

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Honda Graphene batteries Investment

Honda (NYSE:HMC), one of the leading manufacturers of motorcycles and automobiles, has invested in graphene for its energy storage properties. Graphene is touted to become the new material in the manufacture of batteries since electrodes made from graphene can replace those made from lithium.

Research done at Rice University, one of the many institutions that have over the years engaged in explorations into the potential uses of graphene, has indicated that the efficiency of lithium ion batteries can be boosted a great deal if boron atoms where added to graphene to make an ultrathin anode. It is this anode that makes the battery more effective in storing energy.

Earlier research at the Northwestern University had shown that anodes made from graphene can store energy better than those made from graphite. In addition, graphene anodes can charge 10 times faster than those of graphite.

An ideal lithium ion battery has lithium ions that carry the charge circulating through the anode and cathode in the electrolyte when discharging, i.e., when generating power. The process is reversed when charging the battery. The overall performance of the battery largely depends on the ability of anode to hold and facilitate the movement of lithium ions.

By adding boron, the lithium ions that circulate in the battery are able to effectively stick to the graphene anode. This overcomes the initial challenge whereby the ions could not adhere to the anode. Anodes made from graphene enable the battery to charge easily and faster. These batteries also discharge slower than the ones in use today. It is this property that companies such as Honda, Kia and Hyundai want to utilize. Honda has partnered with research institutions to try and use the boron-mixture in batteries to manufacture highly effective batteries for use in electric cars.

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Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT), a defense contractor, has made a groundbreaking discovery in the use of graphene’s ultra filtration properties to purify water for use at a f

Lockheed Martin Corp

raction of the costs. Not only does the use of graphene to filter water save on costs, it also saves a lot of energy that goes into the removal of salts, gases and other particles from water to make it consumable. This is a major step in addressing the acute water shortage which is now becoming a concern in global security.

By using graphene, manufacturers can now make thin filter membranes from carbon. With regular nanometer sized holes, which are big enough to allow only water to sip through, these filters can block salt molecules in seawater thus making it fresh for use.

Since graphene is basically pure carbon, it can be used to make thin (one-atom thin) sheets of filters.
The filters are five hundred times thinner than the thinnest filter available in the current market. The graphene filters are also stronger by a thousand times the ordinary filters. This saves a lot in terms of the energy since only a small amount of energy is used to push the salty water through the one layered filter. Energy is used only in separating the salt from the water.

Savings could also come in the form of not having to build expensive stations used to pump water in plants where the reverse osmosis, a desalination process, is used.

With a hundred times cut in the energy consumption and pressure used currently to filter water, Lockheed Martin Corp leads the way to meeting the challenge of water scarcity. It is reported that clean water for drinking is becoming rare with each passing day globally. Increased water competition will potentially lead to failure in some countries due to instability. This calls for effective and efficient methods of harvesting and preserving water.

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Nokia Investing in Grapgene

Recently, Nokia (NYSE:NOK) was awarded a $1.35 billion funding for its activities in graphene in the next ten years. These activities are mostly research that aims at developing applications from the ‘wonder material’ that are tipped to change the world. European Union gave out the grant in line with its mission, which is to promote research in high risk areas, offset by the likelihood of a breakthrough which will have a high impact in technology or the social world.

The Finnish mobile-phone maker is a member of the Graphene Flagship Consortium that brings together 74 industry leaders from the private sector as well as academia who want to improve the world with graphene.

Graphene is thin, extremely light, flexible and resilient. This makes ideal for numerous applications. Nokia has a very clear plan for graphene. The company intends to develop mobile phones that are fully flexible and exceptionally light (foldable electronics). Since 2006, Nokia has been working on graphene. It has identified areas in which graphene can be applied to develop live-changing applications. For instance, graphene transistors, which can be manufactured in almost microscopic sizes, would enable the company to make a new generation of electronics with improved features such as smaller sizes and significant weight reductions. Nokia has been making positive progress and this grant will accelerate its developments. Moreover, given that this revolutionary material carries with high stakes, the effect of Nokia’s research could give Europe a much needed edge against similar research by rivals from Asia and North America.

foldable electronics

Nokia realizes the advantage that graphene comes with as well as its effects in revolutionizing the world of mobile phone technology and even beyond. In 2008, Nokia unveiled the ‘Morph’, a mobile phone built on the concept of flexibility and nanotechnology. Made from graphene, the ‘Morph’ is capable of changing into many shapes. Nokia is also researching on the use of graphene to coat electronic devices to make them completely waterproof and impervious to fingerprints. In addition, the company is also studying the possibility of creating television screens from graphene which are flexible and foldable, just like posters.

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Graphene Investments

In the next five years, graphene will transform the world of clean technology. This transformation is likely to impact greatly on the clean tech stocks as well. Presently, most graphene technologies are in the lab and therefore do not affect their investments. However, this is set to change when the technologies are commercialized.

In the recent past, a lot of companies have engaged themselves in developing graphene applications, and have hastened to patent their results. Although most of these developments are years from measurable revenue, they promise to turn the necks of the stock investors. For instance, Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) is working on graphene water filters that are set to redefine how water as a resource is treated. A commercialized development will mean something huge worldwide since water is a crucial resource that is of great concern to all governments and other co-operations.

Already, companies such as Focus Graphite and Lomiko Metals Inc. (CVE:LMR) have demonstrated that they can oxidize graphene to produce graphene oxide which is a major breakthrough in graphene investments. Graphene oxide, for instance, is behind the manufacture of graphene super capacitors which are tipped to replace electrochemical batteries in almost all industrial and commercial applications.

Presently, there are over nine thousand patents for graphene. This shows that the graphene investments industry has enough graphite resources to supply and maintain itself. Even if graphene doesn’t meet the expectations of many as a product worth investing stocks in, the companies such as Lomiko (CVE:LMR) and Grafoid are considered as worthy investments as a result of the stakes they hold in graphite mines which support the graphene industry. If these companies are bought based on only the valuations of the mining assets that they hold, graphene industry will provide a potential for long-term investments.

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Samsung Electronics – Investing in Graphene

Samsung Electronics, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electronics, is looking into graphene properties for the production of devices that are likely to change the world. Recently, the company, through its principal research and development incubator (Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology), developed a transistor structure using graphene that has ‘miracle’ characteristics.

The shortcomings of the silicon transistors that are currently in use have motivated the move into graphene transistors.

In most semiconductor devices used today, billions of transistors use silicon transistors for their performance. In order to boost their performance speeds, i.e. their speeds, manufactures either minimize the size of the silicon transistors in a bid to shorten the distance that the electrons need to travel, or replace them with materials that possess properties for faster electron mobility which will increase the output of the semiconductor devices. Over the years, most manufacturers have been reducing the size of the transistors to boost performance. However, this trend will change due to the discovery of the graphene transistors.

Graphene has electron mobility of approximately two hundred times higher than that of the conventional silicon used in making transistors used in semiconductor devices. As a result, graphene transistors are potential replacements of silicon transistors.

Graphene is the world’s thinnest material, with a thickness of one atom. In addition to being exceptional in conducting heat and electricity, it is also very strong and flexible. Samsung Electronics aims to manufacture sleek devices with these characteristics. These devices could have multiple features that aim at satisfying customers while at the same time ensuring their durability.

The fact that graphene can be used to make an ultra slim phone which is ‘bendable’ or ‘foldable’ and among other features such as transparency (just like Samsung’s ‘YOUM’) excites a lot of people.

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