Posted by AGORACOM
at 5:17 PM on Monday, January 27th, 2020
SPONSOR: Gratomic Inc. (TSX-V: GRAT) Advanced materials company focused on mine to market commercialization of graphite products, most notably high value graphene based components for a range of mass market products. Collaborating with Perpetuus, Gratomic will use Aukam graphite to manufacture graphene products for commercialization on an industrial scale. For More Info Click Here
Goodyear developed a proprietary compound enhanced with graphene
The rubber is able to deliver low rolling resistance, improved grip in the dry and wet and long-term durability.
Famous tire and rubber company Goodyear has launched two new bicycle tyres, Eagle F1 and Eagle F1 Supersport utilizing graphene technology and weighing just 180g for a 23mm model.
The
new Eagle F1 is an “ultra-high-performance all-round road tire†and the
Eagle F1 Supersport, which is even lighter, is aimed at the upper
echelons of competition and will be suited to road racing, time trial
and triathlon where speed trumps all other requirements.
Goodyear has developed a proprietary compound enhanced with graphene and “next-generation amorphous (non-crystalline) spherical Silica†to create what it labels Dynamic:GSR. The result of this is said to be a rubber that is able to deliver low rolling resistance, improved grip in the dry and wet and long-term durability.
he Eagle F1 comes in five width options from 23 to 32mm, while the Eagle F1 Supersport comes in three widths from 23 to 28mm.
To
produce the new tire Goodyear has invested in its own factory in Taiwan
and has developed a process that allows much greater control over the
construction of the tire. It didn’t share too many details, but it
believes this enhanced precision contributes to significant weight
savings.
Currently the new Eagle F1 and F1 Supersport are only
available as clincher tube-type tires, but a tubeless tire is reportedly
in the pipeline for a launch later this year.
The new tires will cost from £45 and be in shops in February.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 4:05 PM on Monday, January 27th, 2020
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Researchers at the India-based Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) are developing an economical graphene-based supercapacitor
that can present an effective alternative to providing energy to
various applications, including state-of-the-art military equipment,
mobile devices and modern vehicles.
Graphene has been used in the newly developed ultra-capacitors to
replace the expensive activated carbon, and the switch seems to have
also reduced the supercapacitors’ weight and cost by ten times.
The team has developed a new technique for making graphene oxide, which is being used to produce new ultra-capacitors.
CMERI scientist Dr. Naresh Chandra Murmu stated that “scientists have
developed a technique for producing graphene oxide. The production cost
of one kilogram of graphene oxide using this technique comes to around
ten thousand rupees, which is much lesser than the cost of activated
carbon used in supercapacitors. We have modified the surface of graphene
oxide in our research, due to which it has also succeeded in reducing
its weight. We have now reached the advanced stage of making
ultra-capacitors by using this graphene oxide, which can be useful in
various sectors.â€
Former Senior Defense Development Research Organization (DRDO)
official M.H. Rahman said that such devices not only cater to civilian
applications, but can be applicable in strategic and defense
applications as well.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 2:31 PM on Monday, January 27th, 2020
SPONSOR: Applied BioSciences is a vertically integrated company focused on the development and commercialization of novel, science-driven, synthetic cannabinoid therapeutics / biopharmaceuticals; targeting the endocannabinoid system to treat a wide-range of diseases across multiple therapeutic areas. Click Here for More Info
An endocannabinoid deficiency can result in a host of patient afflictions, but this innovative CBD balancing strategy can help patients
All cannabidiol (CBD) is not
created equal in clinical practice in terms of implementation. The most
frustrating thing for clinicians and also for patients is when an
intended protocol doesn’t work. As I discuss later under the “With
treatment, start low†section of this article, there are ways to use CBD
most effectively.
You probably weren’t taught this in medical school, but CBD works on
the endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS contains CB1 and CB2
receptors, in addition to other receptors that are activated by the
naturally occurring endocannabinoids made in our bodies, called
anandamide and 2-AG. We all have CB1 or CB2 receptors within our body —
if you have a cat or dog, they have these receptors too. All mammals do.
How could it be that we did not even know of the predominance of the
ECS until 1992?
What the endocannabinoid system can do
Patients coming in worn out can be a sign of endocannabinoid deficiency
and the inability to support their pathways optimally, much like
adrenal fatigue. Phytocannabinoids like CBD obtained from hemp products
can act on the same receptors as endocannabinoids made in the body. CBD
receptors, much like opioid receptors, control pain, but via a different
mechanism.
Patients arrive at our clinical practices fatigued, anxious, in pain,
inflamed, and lots reach a point of adrenal burnout, adrenal fatigue.
Indeed, that is often the case because they are suffering from an
endocannabinoid deficiency. We see people who have low adrenal function
at noon, and in the evening, they are tired, dragging, eat lunch, get a
little spike, and then they start free falling again. They’re
flat-lining. How is it that we wake up each morning anticipating with
trepidation and run with go, go, go pace and finish the day glad to have
survived another day? Life is meant for more than that; it is time to
shift our goals from merely surviving to thriving mode!
Researchers observed approximately six years ago that people were
more anxious and depressed in the middle of the summer than ever before,
a new phenomenon. This goes against what we previously believed, that
depression spiked mostly in the holiday season and Thanksgiving and
after the winter solstice. But now we’re seeing people are worn out even
in summer. Indeed, the endocannabinoid system plays a role here.
Anandamide is one of our endocannabinoids. When it becomes lower,
patients are more anxious. There is less healing of the brain, less
neurogenesis, and the hypothalamic-pituitary axis is triggered, causing a
whole cascade of events to occur. What we now know is that the
endocannabinoid system naturally, or with the use of CBD, alters our microbiome
in our gut, beneficially affecting the gut-brain axis. The GI tract is
the site of many receptors. We make about 70% of our serotonin, the
happy-brain chemical, in the GI tract. About 70-80% of our immune system
is in our GI tract, so is it any surprise that we have CB1, CB2
regulatory pathways in our GI tract that work via the endocannabinoid
system to control inflammation? These same pathways can be regulated
using an innovative CBD strategy.
Migraines and the endocannabinoid system
With endocannabinoid deficiency symptoms patients can get migraines.
We thought migraines were just triggered by tyramine-rich foods, such
as cheese, fermented foods, and salami and other such foods; along with
other triggers as well.
However, the endocannabinoid pathway is designed to control pain and
inflammation and also regulate the immune system to a large degree. I
have found in my clinical practice that innovative CBD strategies can be
useful in supporting the health of migraine sufferers.
Treat the brain, treat the pain
The body is designed with innate intelligence to sustain optimal
performance. People ask, “Well, how is CBD metabolized?†It’s primarily
metabolized through the liver, and as a result, it goes through the
cytochrome 450 and other pathways. Wellness is ultimately about
homeostasis. We all know the term entropy, the tendency for the universe
to move toward chaos. But our body exerts a phenomenal amount of energy
to maintain order and wellness. However, if the endocannabinoid system
becomes deficient, this will adversely affect wellness. This
endocannabinoid deficiency, in turn, affects the microbiome,
contributing to a less healthy endocannabinoidome.
CBD can conserve anandamide that is made by the body, and CBD can
support anandamide conservation in an attempt to bring the body back
into homeostasis.
The endocannabinoid system supports brain health. By treating the
brain, it addresses the pain, because if we didn’t have a brain, we
wouldn’t feel the pain from a perception perspective.
Anxiety also is a biochemical process. It’s real. A lot of people
say, “It’s all in my head.†No, stress is real because it’s a
physiological effect. There is biochemistry involved in anxiety. We want
to use innovative CBD strategies to support calming pathways and bring
peace and harmony into the brain.
Endocannabinoid deficiency issues
If a patient has brain inflammation, neuroplasticity
is not going to be as healthy or robust. And the fact is, on a typical
day, we lose about 86,400 brain cells. CBD is an anti-inflammatory
application. And from a neuropathic perspective, activation of
cannabinoid receptors is essential. I’ve looked at research involving
the endocannabinoid system relative to cancer medications and so forth.
Not being an oncologist, I am not suggesting this is a treatment for
cancer, but there are pain, stress and immune challenges that often need
to be associated with this disease state, so visiting with one’s
provider in this arena is vital.
We can start manifesting symptoms of migraines, fatigue, irritable
bowel, whatever it might be, as a result of being subpar, insufficient
or deficient of endocannabinoids. An endocannabinoid deficiency
manifests itself as simply that the body has gotten worn down, much like
low adrenal function, often called adrenal fatigue. So we need to
support that pathway to bring it back on track like we would any other
functional biochemistry, which our body is designed to do. And since
we’re designed to make endocannabinoids, we need to bring those levels
back up to par.
With treatment, start low
The goal is to start low and go slow, as a little bit can go a long
way for many patients. More is not always better, as each person
responds differently based on genetics, biochemistry and individual
need.
Just like if you’re performing an adjustment, a little bit of a
movement might get the job done. Work with gentle modulation of the
endocannabinoid system. You’re working within the innate ability of the
body.
Fifteen to 25 milligrams per day is what I start my patients on. In a
week or two, if I need to move them up to 25 mg two to three times a
day, I will. Once again, if a little bit gets the job done, why more? It
is of paramount importance to respect the innate delicate balance
physiology of the body. Some patients will need much higher doses
because of their endocannabinoid insufficiency or potential genetic
polymorphisms. You’re going to encounter genetic polymorphisms, or what I
termed mutations of the CBD receptors and the CBD pathway.
I never go to high-milligram doses, especially on patients taking
pharmaceutical drugs, without working with their pharmacists, because
CBD can affect similar liver detoxification, as well as other
biochemical pathways of how drugs are metabolized, much like grapefruit
juice, can impact many of the same medications. We want to also support
those drug-metabolizing pathways with diet and lifestyle.
CBD, when dosed properly, can positively supplement a
health-promoting diet and lifestyle. It’s not a substitute for these
things. So, we want to ensure we’re taking steps to support the body at a
foundational level. Additionally, we always want to ensure the THC levels in the CBD you are using are less than 0.3%, or that the CBD contains no THC, when targeting hemp-derived CBD.
We all get broken or get older
Endocannabinoid deficiency is associated with low cortisol, stress
and adrenal fatigue. We’re all getting older. Our mitochondria are
wearing down. Our nitric oxide levels aren’t as robust as they used to
be, and we need support at a fundamental level. In regards to the 65
potential molecular targets that are currently known for CBD, there is a
lot of untapped potential here relative to stress and aging. Innovative
CBD use is a new area; it can be a scary area, but remember, our bodies
have been producing endocannabinoids for millennia. All we’re doing is
supporting a natural pathway.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:10 PM on Monday, January 27th, 2020
SPONSOR: Datametrex AI Limited
(TSX-V: DM) A revenue generating small cap A.I. company that NATO and
Canadian Defence are using to fight fake news & social media
threats. The company announced three $1M contacts in Q3-2019. Click here for more info.
Discerning fake or deceptive stories has become increasingly difficult over the last four years American Citizens say
New polls found that 59 percent of Americans state it is difficult to recognize bogus data, deliberately deceptive and incorrect stories depicted as truth, via web-based networking media
Another 37 per cent deviated, saying it is anything but difficult to spot
Four years after Russia propelled a digital campaign to upset and
impact the 2016 presidential crusade, about 33% of Americans state
deceiving stories via web-based networking media represent the greatest
risk to the wellbeing of U.S. elections. Half of the population thinks
President Trump encourages political race impedance, as indicated by the
most recent PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist survey.
A larger part of the American populace says detecting the distinction
among certainty and bogus data via web-based networking media is
troublesome and gotten more prominent since 2016. Hardly any vibe
assures them that tech companies will forestall the abuse of social
media to impact the upcoming 2020 elections.
Is misinformation getting more difficult to spot?
The new polls found that 59 percent of Americans state it is
difficult to recognize bogus data, deliberately deceptive and incorrect
stories depicted as truth, via web-based networking media. Another 37
per cent deviated, saying it is anything but difficult to spot.
Moreover, with the 2020 presidential battle about to get going
vigorously, the greater part of U.S. grown-ups said recognizing these
phony or misleading stories has gotten progressively troublesome in the
course of the most recent four years. That conclusion was shared by 58
per cent of Democrats, 55 per cent of independents and a somewhat lower
extent of Republicans at 44 per cent.
The fact that Americans know about the risk of deception is
significant. However, it is nonsensical to anticipate that a normal
individual should truth check each snippet of data zooming past them as
they look through their online networking feeds.
Research has indicated that bogus data disperses quicker than reality via social media. In 2018, an investigation from the Massachusetts Institute for Technology said deception moved multiple times quicker than the reality on Twitter.
Who does the public depend on to be truth’s guardian?
39 per cent of Americans state the news media is liable for reviewing
deceiving data. Another 18 per cent state that organizations like
Facebook, Twitter or Google are capable. Furthermore, 15 per cent state
the government’s essential occupation is to diminish the public’s
presentation to deception.
Are the web-based social networking organizations doing what’s needed?
Seventy-five per cent of U.S. grown-ups have little trust in
Facebook, Twitter, Google, and YouTube to stop the spread of falsehood.
Just 5 per cent of survey responders said they felt “extremely sureâ€
these organizations would forestall the viral spread of bogus stories.
The populace lacks trust in significant social media organizations,
notwithstanding tech goliaths; for example, Facebook and Twitter have
vowed to find a way to forestall election impedance on their platforms.
Facebook, one of the most famous social media platforms, has said it
will make a superior showing of expelling deceiving political promotions
before the 2020 presidential political decision. Twitter said it will
boycott political advertisements inside and out.
Americans are wary that social media organizations will respect these
guarantees. Americans additionally realize platforms aren’t doing
what’s necessary to stop the spread of falsehood. In May 2018, Facebook
made a political promotion file to distinguish and research possibly
hazardous advertisements; however, that mechanized framework isn’t
immaculate.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 1:56 PM on Monday, January 27th, 2020
Sponsor: Loncor is a Canadian gold exploration company that controls over 2,400,000 high grade ounces outside of a Barrick JV.. The Ngayu JV property is 200km southwest of the Kibali gold mine, operated by Barrick, which produced 800,000 ounces of gold in 2018. Barrick manages and funds exploration at the Ngayu project until the completion of a pre-feasibility study on any gold discovery meeting the investment criteria of Barrick. Click Here for More Info
Barrick Gold’s Kibali mine beat its 2019 production guidance of 750,000 ounces by delivering 814,027 ounces
Kibali is 200km to the southwest of Loncor’s JV with Barrick in search for further Tier Once mining assets
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) (TSX:ABX) - Barrick Gold Corporation’s Kibali mine beat its 2019 production guidance of 750,000 ounces of gold by a substantial margin, delivering 814,027 ounces in another record year.
Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow told a media briefing here that Kibali’s continuing stellar performance was a demonstration of how a modern, Tier One gold mine could be developed and operated successfully in what is one of the world’s most remote and infrastructurally under-endowed regions.  He also noted that in line with Barrick’s policy of employing, training and advancing locals, the mine was managed by a majority Congolese team, supported by a corps of majority Congolese supervisors and personnel.
Already one of the world’s most highly automated underground gold
mines, Kibali continues its technological advance with the introduction
of truck and drill training simulators and the integration of systems
for personnel safety tracking and ventilation demand control. The
simulators will also be used to train operators from Barrick’s Tanzanian
mines.
“The completion of the Kalimva Ikamva prefeasibility study has
delivered another viable opencast project which will help balance
Kibali’s opencast/underground ore ratio and enhance the flexibility of
the mine plan. Down-plunge extension drilling at Gorumbwa has
highlighted future underground potential and ongoing conversion drilling
at KCD is delivering reserve replenishment. All in all, Kibali is well
on track not only to meet its 10-year production targets but to extend
them beyond this horizon,†Bristow said.
“We’re maintaining a strong focus on energy efficiency through
the development of our grid stabilizer project, scheduled for
commissioning in the second quarter of 2020. This uses new battery
technology to offset the need for running diesel generators as a
spinning reserve and ensures we maximize the use of renewable hydro
power. The installation of three new elution diesel heaters will also
help improve efficiencies and control power costs. It’s worth noting
that our clean energy strategy not only achieves cost and efficiency
benefits but also once again reduces Kibali’s environmental footprint.â€
Bristow said despite the pace of production and the size and complexity of the mine, Kibali was maintaining its solid safety and environmental records, certified by ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 accreditations. Â It also remained committed to community upliftment and local economic development. Â In 2019, it spent $158 million with Congolese contractors and suppliers and in December, it started work on a trial section for a new concrete road between Durba and the Watsa bridge.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 2:34 PM on Friday, January 24th, 2020
VANCOUVER, BC / January 24, 2020 / VERTICAL EXPLORATION INC. (TSXV:VERT) (“Vertical” or “the Company”) announces that it has arranged a non-brokered private placement of up to 26 million units (“Units”) at a price of $0.05 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,300,000.00 (the “Offering”).
Each unit will be comprised of one common share (“Share”) and one-half of one transferable Share purchase warrant of the Company (“Warrant”). Each full Warrant will entitle the Subscriber to purchase one Warrant Share for a 24-month period after the Closing Date at an exercise price of $0.07 per share. Proceeds raised from the Offering will be used to advance the Company’s St. Onge project in Quebec, for general working capital and unallocated funds as per Tier 2 status requirements.
Finders’ fees may be payable on the private placement, subject to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.
This offering is subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance.
ABOUT VERTICAL EXPLORATION
Vertical Exploration’s mission is to identify, acquire, and advance high potential mining prospects located in North America for the benefit of its stakeholders. The Company’s flagship St-Onge Wollastonite property is located in the Lac-Saint-Jean area in the Province of Quebec.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Peter P. Swistak, President
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Telephone: 1-604-683-3995 Toll Free: 1-888-945-4770
Posted by AGORACOM
at 2:04 PM on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020
SPONSOR: American Creek owns a 20% Carried Interest to Production at the Treaty Creek Project in the Golden Triangle. 2019’s first hole averaged of 0.683 g/t Au over 780m in a vertical intercept. The Treaty Creek property is located in the same hydrothermal system as the Pretivm and Seabridge’s KSM deposits. Click Here for More Info
For the second time in as many weeks, the world’s largest hedge fund is once again talking up gold as an important diversifier for investors.
Speaking to CNBC’s Squawk Box on the sideline of the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater
Associates, said that in the current environment, investors should hold a
global diversified portfolio that includes some gold.
“Cash is trash,†he declared in the interview. He warned that investors should get out of cash as central banks continue to print money.
However, Dalio tempered his comments on the precious metal, saying that “a bit of gold is a diversifier.â€
But it is not only cash that Dalio railed against. He also didn’t
have anything nice to say about bitcoin, which is neither a medium of
exchange nor a store of value.
He said that investors shouldn’t go anywhere near bitcoin because of
its volatility. When it comes to a store of value, central banks will
continue to prefer to hold hard assets.
“What are [central banks] going to hold as reserves? What has been
tried and true? They are going to hold gold. That is a reserve
currency, and it has been a reserve currency for a thousand years,†he
said.
Although Dalio said that he sees a low chance of a recession in
2020, he warned investors to look further out. The risks are that
because of where monetary policy is right now, it will be less
effective when the downturn does come.
“At a point in the future, we still are going to think about what’s a
storeholder of wealth. Because when you get negative-yielding bonds or
something, we are approaching a limit that will be a paradigm shift,â€
he said.
Dalio has been fairly bullish on gold and for nearly three years has
advocated that investors hold at least 5% to 10% of their portfolio in
gold.
Dalio’s latest comments come less than a week after Greg Jensen,
co-chief investment officer at Bridgewater Associates, said in an
interview with the Financial Times that he sees gold pushing to $2,000
an ounce.
Jensen said that he sees higher gold prices through 2020 as
inflation picks up but central banks, in particular the Federal Reserve,
step away from the fight.
“The Fed won’t be pre-emptive,†he said.
Jensen said that he is also bullish on gold as geopolitical uncertainty dominates financial markets and investor sentiment.
“When you look at the geopolitical strife, how many foreign entities
really want to hold dollars? And what are they going to hold? Gold
stands out,†he said.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 11:58 AM on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020
SPONSOR: Labrador Gold – Two successful gold explorers lead the way in the Labrador gold rush targeting the under-explored gold potential of the province. Exploration has already outlined district scale gold on two projects, including a 40km strike length of the Florence Lake greenstone belt, one of two greenstone belts covered by the Hopedale Project. Click Here for More Info
At first glance gold looks like it may be about to advance out of a
bull Flag, but there are a number of factors in play that we will
examine which suggest that any near-term advance won’t get far before it
turns and drops again, and that a longer period of consolidation and
perhaps reaction is necessary before it makes significant further
progress.
On the 6-month chart we can see how gold stabbed into a zone of
strong resistance on the Iran crisis around the time Iran’s General was
murdered, but after a couple of bearish looking candles with high upper
shadows formed, it backed off into what many are taking to be a bull
Flag.
The 10-year chart makes it plain why gold is vulnerable here to
reacting back over the short to medium-term, because it has advanced
deep into “enemy territory†– the broad band of heavy resistance
approaching the 2011 highs, with a zone of particularly strong
resistance right where it is now. It would be healthier and increase
gold’s chances of breaking out to new highs if it now backed off into a
trading range for a while to moderate what now looks like excessive
bullishness.
Thus it remains a cause for concern (or it should be for gold
bulls) to see gold’s latest COTs continuing to show high Commercial
short and Large Spec long positions. Is it “going to be different this
time� – the latest Hedgers charts that we are now going to look at
suggest not.
Click on chart to popup a larger, clearer version.
The COT chart only goes back a year. The Hedgers charts shown
below, which are a form of COT chart, go back many years, and frankly,
they look pretty scary.
We’ll start by looking at the Hedger’s chart that goes back to before
the 2011 sector peak. On it we see that current Hedgers positions are
at extremes that way exceed even those at the peak of the 2012 sucker
rally, which was followed by the bulk of the decline in the bearmarket
that followed. Does this mean that we are going to see another
bearmarket like that – no it doesn’t, but it does mean that these
positions will probably need to moderate before we see significant
further gains.
Click on chart to popup a larger, clearer version.
Chart courtesy of sentimentrader.com
Looking at the Hedgers chart going way back to before the year
2000, we see that the current readings are record readings by a
significant margin and obviously increase the risks of a sizeable
reaction. We can speculate about what the reasons for a decline might
be, one possibility being the sector getting dragged down by a
stockmarket crash after its blowoff top, which may be imminent, as
happened in 2008, since it remains to be seen whether investors will
rush into the sector as a safe haven in the event of a market crash.
Click on chart to popup a larger, clearer version.
Chart courtesy of sentimentrader.com
Turning now to Precious Metals stocks, we see on its latest
10-year chart that GDX still looks like it is completing a giant
Head-and-Shoulders bottom pattern. However, it is currently dithering
just beneath resistance at the top of this base pattern, which means
that it is vulnerable to backing off.
So, how then does gold stock sentiment look right now? As we can
see on the 5-year chart for the Gold Miners’ Bullish Percent Index,
bullishness towards the sector is now at a very high level, 84.6%, which
makes it more likely that stocks will drop soon rather than rally, and
what they could do of course is rally some to increase this level of
bullishness still further, and then drop.
Does all this mean that investors in the sector should suddenly
rush for the exits? No, it doesn’t, especially as the charts for many
individual stocks across the sector look very bullish, and it may be
that all that is needed is a cooling period of consolidation. However it
does make sense to use Hedges at extremes, such as leveraged inverse
ETFs and better still options as insurance, which have the advantage of
providing protection for a very small capital outlay, a fine example
being GLD Puts which are liquid with narrow spreads. We did this just ahead of the recent peak
when Iran lobbed a volley of missiles at Iraq. We will not be selling
our strongest gold and silver stocks, but instead look to buy more on
dips.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 5:40 PM on Tuesday, January 21st, 2020
SPONSOR: Gratomic Inc. (TSX-V: GRAT) Advanced materials company focused on mine to market commercialization of graphite products, most notably high value graphene based components for a range of mass market products. Collaborating with Perpetuus, Gratomic will use Aukam graphite to manufacture graphene products for commercialization on an industrial scale. For More Info Click Here
A new technique to make ultra-flat, wrinkle-free films of graphene
could pave the way for a host of applications, including graphene-based
flexible electronics and high-frequency transistors. The technique works
by introducing protons into the film as graphene is synthesized using
chemical vapour deposition (CVD), and its inventors say that it might be
extended to other two-dimensional materials such hexagonal boron
nitride (h-BN) and the transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). It
could also aid the development of hydrogen storage devices made from
layered 2D structures.
Graphene – a 2D honeycomb of carbon atoms just one atom thick –
boasts several unique electronic properties. In contrast to conventional
semiconductors, which have an energy gap between the electron valence
and conduction bands, graphene is a “zero-gap†semiconductor. This means
its electron valence and conduction bands just touch each other. At the
point of contact, the electrons move at near-ballistic speeds, and
their behaviour is governed by the Dirac equation for relativistic
electrons – hence the name “Dirac point†for this section of graphene’s
band structure.
Linear defects
So far, this electronic behaviour has only been observed in small
flakes of graphene that have been shaved off, or exfoliated, from
samples of bulk graphite. These flakes are not big enough to be
practical for electronic circuits, and although larger, wafer-sized
graphene films can easily be produced via CVD, their electronic
performance is not as good. This is because CVD-grown graphene, unlike
the exfoliated type, contains grain boundaries, atomic vacancies,
impurities and wrinkles. These defects act as centres off which
electrons can scatter as they travel, thus degrading the material’s
electronic properties.
CVD-produced graphene is prone to wrinkling because the graphene must
adhere to the surface of a substrate as it grows. If the thermal
expansion coefficient of the substrate does not match that of the
graphene itself, a change in temperature can lead to linear defects –
wrinkles – forming as the ensemble strives to release compressive
strain.
Researchers have attempted to reduce wrinkling by performing CVD at
low temperatures, using substrates with a similar thermal coefficient to
that of graphene, and developing single-crystalline substrates. A team
of researchers led by Libo Gao at China’s Nanjing University has now shown that reducing the interaction between graphene and its substrate might be a good, alternative, strategy.
Intercalating hydrogen molecules
The Nanjing team began by introducing a plasma of protons – hydrogen
ions – into the graphene’s growth chamber. During the CVD process, some
of this hydrogen became intercalated between the graphene and its
substrate, causing the two materials to decouple.
Gao and colleagues found that some of the wrinkles disappeared
entirely from the graphene thanks to this proton penetration. They
believe this is due to decreased van der Waals interactions between the
carbon sheet and the substrate, as well as – possibly – an increase in
the substrate’s distance from the growth surface thanks to the
intercalation process.
High-quality bilayer graphene goes large
The researchers also found that the electronic band structure of
their graphene films shows a V-shaped “Dirac cone†(representing the
density of states around the Dirac point) similar to the one observed in
exfoliated graphene. They argue that this proves the proton-assisted
CVD-grown graphene is indeed decoupled from its substrate.
The technique, which is detailed in Nature,
could be extended to grow ultra-flat versions of other 2D materials,
such as h-BN and the TMDCs, Gao says. It might also make it possible to
develop hydrogen storage devices made from these layered materials.
“The physical and electronic properties of our ultra-flat graphene
films are homogenous on the large scale, which means they might now be
used in higher-performance electronic and photoelectronic devices,†he
tells Physics World.
