New Graphene Nano-fillers for Conductive Applications

Graphene - a nanomaterial derived from graphite - has outstanding thermal and electrical conductivity, combined with other properties like strength and barrier, which make it an exciting new material in development for conductive applications. Graphene is a one-atom thick sheet of carbon, first isolated from graphite in 2004 by researchers at the University of Manchester. Academic and industrial researchers around the world are studying graphene and looking for ways to apply its unique properties, and more companies are beginning to manufacture graphene materials.

Manufacturers such as Vorbeck Materials Corp.,XG Sciences Inc.and Graphene Industries Ltd. use different proprietary processes, and properties of the resulting graphene materials depend on variables like degree of oxidation.

In general, graphene's carbon-network composition makes it highly conductive and its two-dimensional geometry gives it a high surface area (between 700 and 1700 m2/g for Vor-x™ compared to 200 to 500 m2/g for CNTs, for example). In composites, this high surface area allows graphene to improve properties like conductivity, barrier, and strength and to reduce a polymer's coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) at low weight loadings.