The Graphene, Graphite and Carbon Nanotube Research Board

[clearsudden]

Graphene Investing in The Future
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3 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Behind Graphene: 21st Century Wonder Material Explained
By Charlotte McLeod - Exclusive to Graphite Investing News
Graphene is a mineral substance with significant scientific and commercial
promise. Since its discovery - for which the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded in
2010 - it has been the subject of much speculation and experimentation.
According to the Nobel Prize presentation
speech for the 2010 prize for physics:
“Graphite consists of many one-atom-thin
layers of carbon stacked on top of each other.
One single such layer is what we today call
graphene. A graphene layer looks something
like chicken wire. We say that it has a
hexagonal structure, but graphene is much
thinner - actually as thin as one single atom.
Each graphene layer is very strong, but in
graphite these layers are only weakly
connected to each other.”i
Graphene is, simply, a two-dimensional form
of carbon. All other types of carbon, like
graphite and coal, are in fact made of layers of
graphene. Diamond is another form of carbon.
It is important to note graphene can consist of
as many as 10 layers, after which point it is
simply a thin piece of graphite. Many
manufacturers of the material have chosen two
to three layers as the ideal thickness of the
graphene they produce. At this thickness,
graphene has the same properties as if it
consisted of only one layer.
The potential of graphite in many areas is huge
due largely to its special properties. Drawing
from the same Nobel Prize presentation
speech, here is an example that makes the
extraordinary properties of graphene easier to
understand concretely:
“For example, it is 100 times stronger than
steel. If we imagine making a hammock out of
graphene that is one square meter in size, even
though it is only one atom thin it will be able to
hold a newborn infant or a cat without
breaking. Such a hammock would weigh about
one milligram, about the same as one of the
cat’s whiskers.”
Graphene also conducts electricity 1000 times
better than copper or silver, and conducts heat
better than graphite. It’s also flexible,
transparent and stretchable.
This list of graphene’s properties, which is not
even complete, gives some insight into the
reason it is an important material, and why a
cost-effective manufacturing process for it has
the potential to revolutionize industries and
products.
Many of the reasons graphene has the
properties it does are complex - for example,
the action of Dirac fermions in the material
lends graphene its conductive powers.
However, knowledge of the atomic and
subatomic properties of graphene is not
necessary to understand its features. Indeed,
each winner of the Nobel Prize for the
discovery of graphene was able to create a
highly accessible lecture on his process and the
material’s properties and potential for
presentation to the general public.
Similarly, this article will undertake to outline
the development, potential uses, current
manufacture and future possibilities of
graphene. The material’s seeming complexities
“If we imagine making a
hammock out of graphene
that is one square meter in
size, even though it is only
one atom thin it will be able
to hold a newborn infant or
a cat without breaking.”
4 Graphene – Investing in the Future
can be conveyed simply, as can its possible
commercial uses.
The Discovery of Graphene
Attempts to extract and study graphene date
back to 1859,ii though it was only after 2004
that real investigations could begin after a way
to produce graphene samples was found by
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who
won a Nobel Prize for their work with
graphene.iii
The original method used to isolate graphene,
known as the “Scotch tape method,” was
accessible to laboratories all over the world,
and graphene studies grew quickly. The
“Scotch tape method” is also known as the
micromechanical cleavage technique.iv In this
method, the top layer of a high-quality
graphite crystal is removed by a piece of
adhesive tape and is then pressed against a
substrate. Removing the tape leaves a layer of
graphene that can subsequently be examined
and studied. This process works with many
substrates, as long as they adhere to graphene.
Investigating Graphene’s Potential
As a result of this method, laboratories and
researchers all over the world began to
investigate the potential uses of graphene, as
well as its many and puzzling properties. The
existence of graphene was no surprise, but that
it could be isolated and studied so easily was.
More methods of extraction were soon
developed, as the amount of the material that
could fit on a piece of tape was not necessarily
enough for all research applications. Graphene
can be exfoliated chemicallyv from graphite,
for example – treating graphite with acid can
yield graphite oxide, which is graphite
interspersed with oxygen and hydroxyl groups.
Extremely thin flakes of graphite oxide can be
reduced to make graphene, though the
material yielded is of low quality. It is also
possible to grow graphene through catalytic
cracking of hydrocarbons, or precipitation of
dissolved carbon on a metal surfacevi. Both of
these methods produce graphene of high
quality and in large quantities.
With the ability to isolate and create graphene
in relatively large quantities comparative
easily, scientists began to plumb the possible
uses of the material. In the scientific field,
many researchers have found possible uses for
graphene in all kinds of fields. A great deal of
scientific investigation into graphene has led to
the exploration and theorization for possible
commercial uses of the material.
The Commercialization of Graphene
Graphene has the potential to play a
revolutionary role in electronics.vii For
example, graphene could help engineers create
a telephone charger that would fully power the
battery within five seconds. It could also be a
component in equipment that would allow for
the upload of a whole terabit of data in one
second, far faster than any technology affords
today. It could also enable smartphone
manufacturers to use plastic as the material for
a touchscreen rather than glass, allowing for
more durable gadgets. In the future, graphene
could even lead to ultra-thin, flexible
electronics. It could be used as a supercapacitor,
which would eliminate the need for
batteries. Graphene could also find
applications as electronic paper that could
even be rolled like its analog counterpart.
Other possible uses for graphene abound, from
cleaning up oil spills and radioactive wasteviii
to creating high-quality water filters to help
people around the world access potable water
A great deal of scientific
investigation into graphene
has led to the exploration
and theorization for possible
commercial uses of the
material.
5 Graphene – Investing in the Future
more easily. There are even avenues of
research that are investigating the possibility
of using graphene for tumorous cancer
therapies. There are already many, many
possible uses for graphene, and more are
coming to light on a regular basis.
Approximately 7,500 graphene-related
material and product patents have been filed
in China, the U.S. and South Koreaix – there
are many options for the use of graphene
commercially, and these are expanding
regularly.
Investors recognize the potential of graphene
just as well as researchers do. Analysts believe
domination of graphene production for
commercial and industrial use is a geopolitical
race, and billions of dollars are invested
annually into research and development for
exactly this reason.
The natural question, therefore, is why
graphene isn’t already present in the market
on a global scale. Why aren’t smartphones
paper-thin, and why can’t we clean up
radioactive waste with this technology? The
answer to these questions lies in traditional
methods of graphene production.
Limitations to Commercial Graphene
Production
Graphene can be produced in quantities
sufficient for research through methods like
chemical exfoliation, growing graphene on a
substrate and micromechanical cleavage.
However, none of these processes scale
adequately in terms of cost for commercial
production. Reliable laboratory procedures fail
to meet industry needs for quality and cost,
therefore leaving graphene’s commercial
applications behind even as more research
continues to take place on its attributes.
Researchers worldwide have worked to
determine how to create graphene using a
variety of methods. The most common are
those discussed above, but just because they
are often used does not mean they are simple.
Producing graphene is a very involved task. As
the author of the Scientific Entrepreneur blog
succinctly stated: “the process is still a
nightmare.”x Large-area and high-quality
graphene production is expensive largely
because of its extreme difficulty. Creating
graphene through chemical exfoliation is
relatively inexpensive, but it does not produce
material of a high quality. Instead, it often
yields graphene that is then ground into pieces
for sale in vials. Growing graphene on a
substrate is much better suited to the creating
of high-quality sheets of the material, but it is a
laborious and an expensive process. The
transfer of graphene from the original
substrate to another surface is a particularly
difficult and exacting task, which adds to the
final product’s cost.
Chemical Exfoliation
The graphene oxide powder that is the
frequent result of chemical exfoliation retails
for a significant sum on its own, but is
considered inexpensive compared to sheets of
graphene.xi Though the powder is not of high
quality, it can be used to make conductive
graphene paper, used in DNA analysis, and for
other biotechnology applications. This niche of
the graphene market is in a position to make
current and frequent use of the material,
though other industries are not as lucky. For
those fields and applications that require highquality
graphene, graphene oxide powder will
not suffice – its electronic properties are not
up to the task of running batteries or being
used in any of the possible optics applications
the material has, such as LEDs and
smartphone displays. Apart from the low
quality of graphene achieved using chemical
exfoliation, there is also the issue of the
process itself. It uses volatile chemicals like
acid to treat graphite in order to make oxidized
graphene layers or powder.
Producing Graphene on a Substrate
The price of graphene produced on a substrate
can vary widely. This is because it takes into
6 Graphene – Investing in the Future
account both the price of the substrate upon
which the graphene is produced and the price
of the material onto which it is eventually
transferred. Many companies produce
graphene on copper, while others choose to
use silicon carbide that has been reduced by
heat and low pressure to form graphene layers.
Iridium is also a material on which graphene
can be produced as a substrate. It is also
possible to use chemical vapor deposition on
thin nickel films with methane as the source of
carbon to create sheets of few-layer graphene.
This latter method is also chemically volatile,
and very involved.
The cost of graphene produced on a substrate
also reflects the multistep process that is
involved in this method. The labor hours and
the equipment necessary to support the
process are both factors that contribute to the
price of the material.
Issues Common to Most Production
Methods
Regardless of how researchers and companies
choose to produce graphene, many of them
face the same challenges when attempting to
create enough to make it to market: Scaling
any method of graphene production is very
difficult.
The micromechanical cleavage method is
suited for small-scale production of graphene
for research, for example, and is unlikely ever
to produce graphene in commercial quantities.
Using adhesive tape to painstakingly transfer
layers of graphene onto substrates simply isn’t
a sustainable model for commercial
production, though it has proven very useful to
scientists in many research laboratories.
Chemical exfoliation has its own problems, as
does production on a substrate. Both methods
are, as reviewed above, often costly and
involved. These costs are transferred to the
price of graphene, which is quite high. Indeed,
much of the market for the material now is
comprised of researchers – rather than
companies that intend to make consumer
products with graphene.
Geim, in a paper published after he was
awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery with
Novoselov of graphene, wrote: “The major
difference between now and then is the advent
of graphene’s mass production technologies.
This has dramatically changed the whole
landscape by making the subject of
applications less speculative and allowing the
development of new concepts unimaginable
earlier.” xii
Though this is true, it is notable that graphene
is still not a major component in any
commercial or industrial applications. The
mass production procedures currently in use
simply do not present high quality at a realistic
cost, meaning even the most well-informed
speculations on the uses of the material tend to
remain only ideas or prototypes.
Graphene with today’s production processes
would stay firmly in the future and in the
realm of ideas. Of course, as with any new
technology, production is likely to become less
costly and more reliable as time wears on.
However, applications of graphene are
practical today – at least in the laboratory. The
many barriers to graphene commercialization
present a true challenge to companies and
researchers alike, though exciting
developments in the field have occurred.
The Future of Graphene Production
Though there are many obstacles to the
commercialization of graphene, they are not
insurmountable. Nor is graphene use in
commercial products a dream for the future.
On the contrary, there are companies working
“The major difference
between now and then is the
advent of graphene’s mass
production technologies.”
7 Graphene – Investing in the Future
to make production scalable and economic
even today, which could make graphene
commercially viable in many applications very
soon.
One of these companies is Grafoid, a graphene
investment and business development
company. Established in 2011 by publicly
traded Focus Graphite Inc.. Grafoid is part of a
global platform comprised of Focus Graphite,
Graphite Zero Pte Ltd., the National University
of Singapore’s Graphene Research Center, one
of the world’s premier graphene R&D centers.
Focus is a principal shareholder of Grafoid Inc.
Graphite Zero is the university’s first
commercial graphene spinoff company.
Grafoid, a private company declared its
intention to invest in bulk production of
graphene products in 2013. This proprietary
set of graphene products, as MesoGraf™
graphene, will be used for both industrial and
commercial needs. It is of high grade and
purity independent of the graphite source used
to create it, requiring only a concentrated
graphite ore with a grade above 10 percent.
This process, which contrasts starkly with
other graphene ventures and methods of
production, begins with a one-step,
environmentally sustainable chemical process
for the production of MesoGraf™. Unlike the
methods of graphene production discussed
above, Grafoid’s process involves neither
volatile chemicals nor large amounts of
adhesive tape. It is also completed in one step,
removing the cost barriers introduced by
complex processes that require additional
equipment and extensive hours of labor. This
makes commercial scale applications of
graphene possible – which have been under
continuous discussion since the discovery of
graphene in 2004. Grafoid and its partners will
be able to supply end users with varying sizes
and forms of MesoGraf™, all of which will
maintain the same integrity. Indeed,
MesoGraf™ has what Investor Intel called
“novel structural, conductive and hybrid
properties that allow it to act as an energystorage
mechanism and as an energy conduit.”
These properties can be retained in any form
of MesoGraf™ ordered and produced, unlike
other production methods that lessen certain
properties of the material.
In a speech at the “New Diamonds Nano
Carbons” conference in Singapore, Grafoid’s
Chief Executive Officer Gary Economo said of
his company’s business model and technology,
“This platform offers the most direct, clearest,
fastest, affordable way towards graphene’s
commercialization on a global scale.”xiii
As this paper has discussed, graphene has a
staggering amount of potential applications,
from electronics to medicine. The reason none
of these fields yet use graphene on a large scale
is the cost of the material. In turn, that cost is
based on unwieldy and complex production
processes. Grafoid believes it has changed that
by discovering a one-step process that is
economical to undertake. Due to this
development, graphene could lower in price,
making it available and attractive to leaders
and manufacturers in many industries. While
much of the speculation around what graphene
could do commercially reads as though it were
science fiction, it is all quite possible, and
becomes more so with this advancement from
Grafoid and its partners.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct
investment interest in any company mentioned in this
article.
“This platform offers the
most direct, clearest, fastest,
affordable way towards
graphene’s commercialization
on a global scale.”
8 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Graphene: Key to Revolutionizing Telecommunications?
By Karan Kumar - Exclusive to Graphite Investing News
Researchers have created an ultra-sensitive photodetector that could revolutionize
the telecommunications industry and many others. Using graphene, which is made
from graphite, and semiconducting quantum dots, researchers at the Institute of
Photonic Sciences (ICFO) in Barcelona, Spain have created a photodetector that is a
billion times more sensitive to light than previous graphene-based photodetectors.
Photodetectors are electronic components that
convert light into electrical signals. They are
used, for example, as receivers in fiber optic
networks where they convert light information
to the form of an electric signal, explained
Michael Berger for Nanowerk, an online
resource for nanotechnology. Photodetectors
are currently made from semiconductors like
silicon or gallium arsenide. An electrical
current is created when photons strike these
materials. Graphene makes use of the internal
field that exists at the interface of graphene
and metal, but its low optical absorption -
about 2.3 percent - leads to low responsiveness
in photodetectors. Researchers around the
globe have been working on increasing the
interaction length of light with graphene to
enhance its optical absorption.
And that’s where ICFO researchers have made
a breakthrough.
“We managed to successfully combine
graphene with semiconducting nanocrystals to
create complete new functionalities in terms of
light sensing and light conversion to
electricity,” lead ICFO researcher Gerasimos
Konstantatos told ZDNet.
Higher graphene light absorption
Another ICFO researcher, Frank Koppens,
explained to The Economist that his team has
managed to increase graphene’s light
absorption to more than 50 percent by
spraying tiny crystals of lead sulphide onto the
surface of the material. These crystals are so
small - three to ten nanometers across, a
nanometer being a billionth of a meter - that
they are known as quantum dots.
The Economist explains that optoelectronic
transistors are much harder to make than
ordinary transistors, and are in great demand
in the world’s telecommunications networks,
“in which signals are processed locally as
electrons but are transmitted long-distance as
light.”
The ICFO said in a statement on its website
that its research regarding graphene
photodetectors “consists of low-cost materials
that can be integrated with existing silicon
technologies, and can be readily deposited
onto any sort of substrates - rigid or flexible,
crystalline or amorphous. The search for lowcost,
ultra-sensitive photodetectors, in
particular for light that is not visible with the
naked eye (such as infrared light) has been a
pressing challenge for physicists and
engineers.”
While graphene is touted as
a material that could change
our lives, the steep cost of
producing it means its
miracles are only being seen
in laboratories. At a cost of
$20,000 a pound,
commercial use of graphene
is currently prohibitive.
9 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Graphene at $20,000 a pound
While graphene is touted as a material that
could change our lives, the steep cost of
producing it means its miracles are only being
seen in laboratories. At a cost of $20,000 a
pound, commercial use of graphene is
currently prohibitive.
Grafoid, which is owned in part by Focus
Graphite (OTCQX:FCSMF, TSXV:FMS) and
specializes in graphene research and
development, said the “cost transformation” of
graphene has already begun.
“Different industries that have found uses for
graphene but were stymied by the high cost of
graphene, or sacrificed performance by using
reduced graphene oxides have been contacting
Grafoid,” Dr. Gordon Chiu, President, Chief
Technology Officer and co-founder of Grafoid
said in an interview last month. He did not
give an indication of how much the price of
graphene has fallen.
Future demand
The research by the ICFO scientists has
created, using graphene, the "guts" of a
transistor that is regulated by light, the
Economist explained. It is too early to tell what
impact the growing use of graphene will have
on demand for graphite, especially high-grade
flake graphite.
The Mining Letter reported that between 2000
and 2011 total graphite consumption doubled
from 600,000 tonnes to 1.2 million tones.
Byron Capital Markets expects to see this
figure increase to 2.6 million tonnes by 2020
as more graphite is used to produce lithiumion
batteries and other applications.
Securities Disclosure: I, Karan Kumar, hold no direct
investment interest in any company mentioned in this
article.
10 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Graphene Seen as Key in Making Sea Water Potable
By Karan Kumar - Exclusive to Graphite Investing News
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) may have found a
way to desalinate water using graphene, a development that holds potential for
solving the problem of dwindling water supplies in many areas of the world.
Known in scientific circles as a miracle
material, graphene, which is derived from
graphite, is seen as changing the way we live,
with applications in telecoms, transistors,
health and other areas.
Graphene, a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon, is
many times stronger than steel and conducts
heat and electricity well. Scientists are playing
with the wonder material for a range of
applications. But the research by MIT
scientists is not focused on the electrical
conductivity of graphene. Their finding
promises an abundant supply of potable water
to the world, which has not been possible until
now because desalination technology is
expensive and consumes a lot of energy.
In an excerpt from a paper published in
journal Nano Letters, Jeffrey Grossman,
associate professor of power engineering in
MIT’s Department of Materials Science and
Engineering, and his graduate student David
Cohen-Tanugi, wrote that their research shows
that “nanometer-scale pores in single-layer
freestanding graphene can effectively filter
NaCl salt from water.”
Graphene blocks sodium, chlorine
Their research showed that when water
molecules, and sodium and chlorine ions in
saltwater, encounter a sheet of graphene,
perforated by holes of the right size, the water
passes through, but the sodium and chlorine of
the salt are blocked, according to a press
release:
“We were very pleasantly surprised” by how
well graphene performed compared to existing
systems in computer simulations, Grossman
said in a statement. For now, Grossman and
Cohen-Tanugi have been doing computer
simulations of the process to determine its
optimal characteristics. “We will begin
working on prototypes this summer,”
Grossman said.
Currently the common method of desalination,
called reverse osmosis, uses membranes to
filter the salt from the water. But these systems
require extremely high pressure and thus
energy to force water through the thick
membranes, which are about a thousand times
thicker than graphene.
The new graphene system being researched at
MIT operates at a much lower pressure, and
could purify water at far lower cost, the
researchers said.
Graphene system faster
While reverse osmosis has been used for
decades, “really basic mechanisms of
separating salt from water are not well
understood, and they are very complex,”
Cohen-Tanugi said in a statement, adding that
it is very difficult to do experiments at the scale
of individual molecules and ions. But the new
graphene-based system, he said, works
Graphene, a one-atom-thick
sheet of carbon, is many
times stronger than steel
and conducts heat and
electricity well. Scientists
are playing with the wonder
material for a range of
applications.
11 Graphene – Investing in the Future
“hundreds of times faster than current
techniques, with the same pressure” — or,
alternatively, the system could run at similar
rates to present systems, but with lower
pressure, the statement said.
According to National Geographic, nearly 70
percent of the earth is covered by water, but
only 2.5 percent of it is fresh water. The rest is
saline and ocean-based. Quoting UN statistics,
National Geographic said that by 2025, an
estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas
plagued by water scarcity, with two-thirds of
the world's population living in water-stressed
regions as a result of use, growth and climate
change.
12 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Towards Graphene’s Commercialization
By Gary Economo, CEO, Grafoid Inc.
In May 2013, Grafoid Inc. rolled out its global graphene platform, an alliance of
academic, scientific and business entities vying for a dominant position in the
highly competitive geopolitical and commercial race for graphene supremacy.
At the time, Grafoid had been in existence
barely 18 months – a feat indicative of the
speed of graphene’s global progress and
development.
Today, Grafoid hosts two world-class graphene
production facilities, one in Canada, one in the
United States while continuing to develop new
markets in Asia, Europe and North America.
Graphene is an allotrope of carbon – a two
dimensional substance isolated from natural
graphite discovered by chance by Nobel Prize
winning nanophysicists Professors Andrei
Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at the
University of Manchester in 2003.
Professor Geim, in a recent interview with
CNN said, “if the speed of development of the
last 10 years is of any guidance we can expect
to see graphene everywhere soon.
“Typically,” he said, “it takes 40 years for a
new material to move from an academic lab
into a consumer product, but within less than
10 years graphene has jumped from our lab
into an industrial lab and now there are pilot
products all over the world.”
Much like British bacteriologist Sir Alexander
Fleming made a chance discovery of penicillin,
it took other scientists 10 years to transform
Fleming’s discovery to commercialize what
became known as the “miracle drug” of the
20th Century.
Ironically, 10 years after graphene’s discovery,
Grafoid announced it had taken the next step
towards graphene commercialization by
establishing a global graphene standard for
cost and quality – a benchmark from which
future industrial and product applications can
be measured against – MesoGraf™.
Our graphene innovation alliance is: Grafoid
Inc., Focus Graphite Inc., Graphite Zero Pte
Ltd., and, the National University of
Singapore’s Graphene Research Center – one
of the premier graphene research and
development institutes in the world.
MesoGraf™ was developed by inventors Dr.
Gordon Chiu, President, Chief Technology
Officer and founding partner of Grafoid, and
by Professor Loh Kian Ping of the National
University of Singapore’s (NUS) Graphene
Research Center. Grafoid holds the exclusive
global rights from NUS to market and
commercialize MesoGraf™ industrial-scale
material and product applications.
Redefining Graphene
The Grafoid alliance picks up and builds out
from graphene’s genesis.
Grafoid’s financial and scientific investment
resulted in novel, patent pending processes for
the large-scale extraction and mass production
Grafoid’s financial and
scientific investment
resulted in novel, patent
pending processes for the
large-scale extraction and
mass production of
graphene sourced directly
from raw, unprocessed
graphite ore.
13 Graphene – Investing in the Future
of graphene sourced directly from raw,
unprocessed graphite ore.
At the same time, Grafoid introduced the
world’s first trademarked graphene,
MesoGraf™, setting the global standard for
graphene.
MesoGraf™ distinguishes itself from all other
graphenes.
It is a mass-produced, low-cost, functional,
defect-free graphene manufactured from an
environmentally sustainable, one-step process
that avoids the use of harsh, potentially
dangerous or explosive chemicals.
More importantly, however, MesoGraf™’s
source, unique transformation process,
structural integrity, high energy density and
functionality enables a versatility that imbues
Grafoid with the freedom to innovate its way
into new material applications for virtually
every industrial sector.
The Grafoid alliance is the world’s largest
producer of graphene and an application
developer inching closer towards its
commercial goals.
Grafoid continues to amass materials and
product development alliances with some of
the world’s leading corporations and
institutions - sectoral leaders in clean,
renewable energy technologies, transportation
and infrastructure focusing on those first-tomarket
prospects.
By redefining graphene itself, the Grafoid
alliance turns back the clock on the graphene
development industry. Here’s why:
A Graphene Standard
Graphene is a newly discovered material and
has been deemed by financial markets to be a
disruptive technology.
Manufacturers have shown a keen interest in
graphene – either as a lightweight structural
material replacement, or, as an investment for
the creation of new 21st Century products or
materials.
Before making that investment leap though,
manufacturers and developers require
absolute certainty the technology they invest in
is safe, stable, of consistent purity and quality,
reliable, scalable, reproducible and available in
large volumes at the lowest possible cost.
MesoGraf™ meets and exceeds those criteria.
Our standards data have been validated
independently, but, more importantly,
validated by our global industrial and
institutional partners currently developing
new materials with MesoGraf™,
MesoGraf™Xide or other MesoGraf™
derivatives in solution or solid states.
Low Cost
Before any sectoral developer invests in a new
material or process, the cost benefits and
project economics must be demonstrated by
senior managers to their boards and
ultimately, to their shareholders.
MesoGraf™’s top-down, one-step graphite-tographene
transformation process stands alone
in terms of competitive costing. Chemical
vapor deposition (CVD) is a bottom-up
graphene conversion process usually requiring
numerous steps to arrive at a small quantity of
graphene. Cost remains the chief obstacle to
widespread industrial adoption of CVD
processed graphene.
In terms of cost, quality and function, Grafoid
has no competition in the world today.
The Grafoid alliance is the
world’s largest producer of
graphene and an application
developer inching closer
towards its commercial
goals.
14 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Functionalized Graphene
Graphene must be formed and shaped with the
versatility to be adapted to most any industrial
or product application. MesoGraf™ succeeds
in terms of functionality and Grafoid succeeds
in the engineering of its graphene to most any
application.
Towards Commercialization
After graphene’s discovery, Grafoid’s
MesoGraf™ represents the graphene
industry’s next step towards
commercialization. The expansion of
production facilities in North America and
eventually, Europe, will leave Grafoid well
positioned to assume a leading, transformative
role in graphene’s universal acceptance.
MesoGraf™Xide: Re-Setting the Starting
Line
Establishing graphene’s benchmark was the
easy part. Establishing the global standard for
the mass production of extreme low-cost
graphene oxide or MesoGraf™Xide represents
the Holy Grail of graphene’s universal
development and Grafoid’s next steps toward
securing its dominant industrial position.
MesoGraf™ Applications: Revenue
Drivers
With a number of joint venture application
development projects underway – six publicly
announced since early 2012 – Grafoid’s
business model is unique because of three key
elements, namely:
MesoGraf™’s high-purity graphite source;
MesoGraf™’s novel graphite-to-graphene
transformation and mass production
processes, and; Grafoid’s leading position in
adapting a low-cost, irrefutably highperforming
graphene to patentable industrial
applications.
Producing a benchmark graphene that,
according to Professor Geim is 1,000 times
more electrically conductive than copper, and
200 times stronger than steel opens Grafoid’s
doors to an infinite number of partnering
possibilities.
Long-term sustainable revenues will come
from licensing fees and royalties attached to
future commercial sales generated by Grafoid
and its development partners.
About Graphene
The American Chemical Society calls graphene
the “wonder material” of the 21st Century. The
future potential for graphene and its
commercial applications are infinite.
Manchester is considered the birthplace of the
Industrial Revolution of the early 19th
Century. It is also considered the birthplace of
the Graphene Revolution following graphene’s
discovery at the University of Manchester a
decade ago.
Graphene has become the focus of an intense,
multi-billion dollar global research campaign
funded by governments and the corporate
sector in a race to unlock its vast commercial
and military, civil and social potential.
A single, two-dimensional layer of graphene
exfoliated from natural graphite is one atom
thick. It has width and length but no depth.
Three million layers of graphene stacked in top
of each other reach a height of one millimeter,
yet it is 200 times stronger than steel and 100
times more efficient than silicon in converting
sunlight to energy. It stretches, bends and has
a melting point of 3500 degrees Celsius. It kills
bacteria, enabling its use as a sterile medium
for growing skin cells to aid burn victims.
Of the 9,200 graphene patents filed globally to
date, none have yet led to the development of a
commercial or industrial product. Developers,
however, are on the cusp of commercial
breakthroughs. China, the United States,
Korea and Europe are the acknowledged
patenting leaders with IBM being the single
largest individual patent holder.
15 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Grafoid’s Future
Our company is well-funded, efficient and we
are currently expanding our global reach.
Grafoid’s investment in MesoGraf™, as
contributor to graphene’s universal scientific
knowledge, establishes a foundation for future
scientific, industrial, commercial, medical and
humanitarian developments.
As a business, our goals are twofold: to profit
from our investments, and; to assume a
leading position within the broad, global
graphene community.
As demand dictates we will expand our
MesoGraf™ production facilities beyond Asia
and North American to Europe.
With manufacturing expansion comes growth
in our joint venture IP developments. As
mentioned above, Grafoid is engaged in
numerous application development joint
ventures of some 56 potential targeted
partnering areas identified by us today.
That said, we are a full two years ahead of our
initial development projections. We see no
obstacles to our future progress.
Some People Don’t Think There’s a
Market for Graphene Applications.
We Know There Is.
Molecular Electronics • High-Performance Computing Data • Electronic Wall
Panels • Storage • Communications • Super Capacitors • Thermal
Management • Photovoltaics • Organic Photovoltaic Cells • Plastics
Imaging Equipment • Graphene Transistors • Coatings • Capacitors
Structural Radiation Sensors • Military and Defense • Switches • Antibacterial
Sheets • Graphene Nanoribbons • Spin Valve • Fuel Cell Catalysts
Automotive • Flexible Integrated Circuits • Graphene Interconnections
Printed Electronics • Marine • Nanocables • Water Purification • Flash Memory
Energy Creation • Amplifiers • Frequency Multipliers • Receivers • Mixers
Antennas • Heat Spreaders • Chemicals • Thermal Interfaces • Nanoplatelets
Graphene Quilts • Polymer Solar Cells • Environmental Protection • Mass
Sensors • Food Production • Foam Sensors • Nanopore Sensors • BioMedical
Sensors • Energy Storage • Image Sensors • Graphene Hyperlens • Graphene
Films • Graphene Spray Coatings • 3D Printing • Manufacturing
Infrastructural Polymers • Aerospace • MRI Agents • Polymer Composites
Construction Materials • Graphene-laced Metals • Hydrogen Storage Tanks
Corrugated Graphene • Catalysts • Graphene DNA Sequencing • Lithium Iron
Phosphate Graphene Battery Materials • Graphene Anodes • Graphene
Electrolytes and Fuel Cell Supporting Materials • Energy Transmission
Lithium-Air Batteries • Environmental Remediation • Extreme Long-Life
Batteries • Graphene Electrodes • Audio Speakers • Ballistic Transistors
Mesograf™ - Redening Graphene
from Grafoid
17 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Partnerships Give Grafoid a Competitive Edge in Graphene Space
Interview with the CEO and Co-founder of Grafoid
By Charlotte McLeod - Exclusive to Graphite Investing News
Gary Economo is Co-founder, CEO of Grafoid Inc., an emerging global graphene
technology development company. Mr. Economo has a distinguished business
career, serving as CEO for a number of public and private high technology
companies during the last 20 years. He enjoys a long history of graphite marketing
and sales for high-tech applications.
Graphite Investing News’ Charlotte McLeod talked with Mr. Economo to get an
update on the company and recent developments.
Graphite Investing News: Can you start
by telling me a little about your
background and how you came to
Grafoid?
Gary Economo: I've spent 30 years in the
high-tech industry, during which time I've
started up, invested in and launched a variety
of high-tech companies, from battery pack
manufacturing to semiconductor sales and
marketing to power supplies — all kinds of
different component-level businesses.
One of those businesses was the agency that
sold components to the Canadian high-tech
industry, and one of the products we
represented was a graphite-based heatdisbursement
material. Graphite makes a
phenomenal heat sink; apart from being a very
electrically conductive material, it's a very
good thermal conductor. It's being used widely
in thermal management applications.
I jumped into the graphene business four years
ago with Dr. Gordon Chiu. We knew we had to
develop a way to make graphene at a very low
cost because the type of applications we were
looking to use it in were high-volume
technology applications — thermal
management was one of them.
With our background in heat spreading, we
realized that graphene was a much better
thermal conductor than graphite. So we set out
and teamed up with the National University of
Singapore. The university had a process to
make low-cost graphene, and Gordon had
expertise in chemistry; when we combined that
knowledge, we were able to create a unique,
breakthrough graphite-to-graphene
transformation process. That's how we got into
the graphene business.
GIN: MesoGraf™ is the first
trademarked, mass-produced graphene
in the world. Is being the first out of the
blocks with a graphene product
equivalent to being the first company to
commercialize graphene?
GE: We believe it is. There are a lot of
“graphene manufacturers” out there that
utilize a variety of different methods to
produce graphene; however, all of those
methods are very destructive to the material,
and they're also not scalable. Being able to
Graphite makes a phenomenal
heat sink; apart from
being a very electrically
conductive material, it's a
very good thermal
conductor. It's being used
widely in thermal
management applications.
18 Graphene – Investing in the Future
make 1 gram at a time is one thing, but to be
able to make it in kilos and tons is a totally
different ball game.
Our process is very scalable — from kilos to
tons — and reproducible, so we can maintain
consistency from batch to batch in our
production process. We can also do it at an
extremely low cost. Those are the things that
define a commercially viable product.
GIN: You mentioned that you’re
working with the National University of
Singapore. Does that relationship give
Grafoid a competitive advantage in
today’s market?
GE: I believe it gives us an incredible
competitive advantage. The National
University of Singapore is one of the world’s
leading universities in graphene development
and production, and the knowledge base there
is phenomenal. Having access to that
knowledge base and the manpower there is
certainly a major advantage.
I think our relationship with the National
University of Singapore will continue to grow.
We will continue to develop new graphenebased
products and applications. We think
that having a close relationship with a worldclass
graphene laboratory is absolutely
essential; they have all the proper equipment
and we have access to their $100-million lab.
It’s a terrific relationship and an incredible
advantage that we have over other people who
are attempting to develop graphene on their
own.
GIN: From what you’ve been saying, it
sounds like Grafoid is leading the pack
in terms of graphene production. But
can you give me an idea of where the
company’s competitors are sitting? I
read in an article posted on your
website that China has the potential to
become a leader in graphene
production.
GE: Many countries are making claims about
their potential to become leaders in graphene
production, but we haven't seen anybody that's
even close to what we're talking about with our
business.
We've seen companies in China discuss their
production capabilities for graphene, but what
we have found is that it's really no more than
expanded flake. Expanded flake is expanded
graphite — it’s not graphene. It comes in 50,
100, 200 or 1,000 layers, not the one, two and
three layers you see in graphene. Expanded
flake can be used in a variety of applications,
especially foils, but it's not graphene.
It’s important for everybody to be incredibly
careful about what the definition of graphene
is.
GIN: Grafoid has publicly revealed six
graphene joint venture developments.
However, you also have numerous joint
venture development projects underway
that have not been revealed. Without
disclosing the names of those
developments, could you reveal,
generally, the nature of your
investigations?
GE: Yes. We are working in a number of
different fields and are engaged in
consolidation projects, as well as a variety of
thermal management projects in the solar
energy sector, bio-medicine and other
renewable energy projects. We are also
engaged in a variety of graphene coatings,
including lubricant development projects.
Further, we are engaged in a catalyst project
and in a variety of compounds, such as
extensions of polymers and of rubber-based
Many countries are making
claims about their potential
to become leaders in
graphene production
19 Graphene – Investing in the Future
products that are linked with our MesoGraf™
to create some very specialized compounds for
a variety of industries.
In total we're engaged in about 17 or 18
different projects.
GIN: Grafoid has already attracted
about $10 million in private
investments. Do you intend to keep the
company private, or will you need to
raise funds in global markets by taking
it public?
If we want to engage in a wide range of
applications, the public markets will become
very important for us. We believe the time will
be right once we have proven that our business
model is effective and efficient and once we’ve
engaged with those major customers that we
can announce.
I think that’s just around the corner, but we’ll
see. I think the public markets are ready for
another big thing, and I truly believe the next
big thing is graphene. Over the next couple of
years I think we’re going to see some
incredible applications and strides made in
graphene developments.
GIN: What can the public expect from
Grafoid in 2014?
There are two big things coming up this year.
One is the unveiling of our two manufacturing
facilities — one in Canada and one in the
United States. These facilities will complement
our Singapore pilot plant.
The second is that we will be able to begin
making public more of our application
partners. We’re also looking at potential new
technologies that will help us grow, but our
facility locations and partnerships are likely
the two main events that will put Grafoid in
the spotlight over the coming year.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct
investment interest in any company mentioned in this
article.
20 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Grafoid: Leading the Graphene Revolution
"Graphene on its own can't really make anything. But graphene can make
everything better," Gary Economo, CEO and Co-founder of Grafoid, says in the video
below.
For instance, he explains, when mixed with recycled plastics, the 2-percent concentration of his
company's graphene can ultimately be used to create a very, very strong rebar material used in
the construction industry. It can also be used to create clothing so protective it's like wearing an
armored vehicle.
His company is also targeting key technologies to implement products in the fields of polymers,
rubber, 3D printing materials and lubricants.
"Grafoid, with its sister companies, is leading the graphene revolution," he concludes.
21 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Graphene Could Make Artificial Photosynthesis More Efficient
By Karan Kumar - Exclusive to Graphite Investing News
Wonder material graphene keeps surprising researchers with its seemingly
limitless power. One of the newest applications for graphene, derived from
graphite, is its use as an efficient photocatalyst — a chemical substance or material
that accelerates a chemical reaction without being used itself.
In science education, we learned that the wellknown
photocatalyst chlorophyll captures light
and aids photosynthesis, a process used by
plants and other organisms to convert light
energy from the sun into chemical energy used
to fuel the organism’s activities.
A team of scientists from the Korea Research
Institute of Chemical Technology have
demonstrated that graphene may be able to
improve the efficiency of artificial
photosynthesis systems by serving as a
photocatalyst.
That’s important because artificial
photosynthesis systems could potentially
produce renewable, non-polluting fuels and
chemicals for a wide variety of uses. And until
now, producing a solar-to-fuel conversion
process has been both challenging and
expensive.
Previous studies have experimented with
graphene-semiconductor composites such as
photocatalysts, but their efficiency was low.
The new study used graphene by itself as a
photocatalyst, which the researchers then
coupled to a porphyrin enzyme.
“The researchers demonstrated that this
material could convert sunlight and carbon
dioxide into formic acid, a chemical that is
used in the plastic industry and as fuel in fuel
cells,” a report on the study states. “Tests
showed that the graphene-based photocatalyst
is highly functional in the visible light regime,
and that its overall efficiency is significantly
higher than the efficiencies of other
photocatalysts.”
Jin-Ook Baeg, one of the researchers and a coauthor
of the study, said in an interview with
Phys.org, “[t]he photocatalyst-enzyme coupled
system is one of the most ideal artificial
photosynthesis systems that utilize solar
energy for the synthesis of various chemicals
and fuel.”
Baeg added that the ability to produce solar
fuel directly from carbon dioxide has
applications related not only to fuel cells and
plastics, but also to the pharmaceutical
industry.
“As one of the strong practical merits of the
system, it also can be used for the production
of tailor-made fine chemicals using solar light
energy,” Baeg said. “For example, chiral 2-
amino-1-arylethanol derivatives are a very
important intermediate of many kinds of very
expensive chiral drugs. It can be easily
synthesized by our photocatalyst-enzyme
coupled artificial photosynthesis system
simply using solar light energy.”
The hype about graphene and its applications
— from desalinating sea water to telecoms to
transistors to health — is gaining ground on a
daily basis. But the reality is that the material
— a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon that is
many times stronger than steel and is a good
conductor of heat and electricity — is still
expensive to make and thus is currently used
only in laboratories.
Until now, producing a
solar-to-fuel conversion
process has been both
challenging and expensive.
22 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Focus Graphite (TSXV:FMS), a Canadian
technology graphite mining company, has
asserted that Grafoid, in which it holds a
sizable equity state, is working on a process
that will make graphene prices come down.
Another miner, Northern Graphite
(TSXV:NGC,OTCQX:NGPHF), said last year
that it will supply extra-large-flake graphite to
Grafen Chemical Industries, with which it also
has a deal to develop intellectual property
rights regarding graphene application.
In the meantime, a scientist working at the
Nano Application Centre in Allahabad, India
has synthesized graphene in the laboratory
using a new, simple, cheap and time-saving
method, Times of India reported, without
giving any details on how he produced
graphene or what the price implications are.
Securities Disclosure: I, Karan Kumar, hold no direct
investment interest in any company mentioned in this
article.
23 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Graphene Making Inroads in Lithium-ion Battery Market
By Charlotte McLeod - Exclusive to Graphite Investing News
As investors who take even a passing interest in the graphite market likely know,
graphene, which is derived from graphite, is being heralded as this century's
"wonder material." A quick glance at the news surrounding the material makes it
easy to see why. In the past year alone, research has shown that graphene may be
able to revolutionize the technology surrounding telecommunications, artificial
photosynthesis and desalination.
Most recently, graphene has been making
inroads into improving the amount of energy
that lithium-ion batteries can hold. SiNode
Systems, a start-up company out of
Northwestern University, is addressing the
problem by building a lithium-ion battery
using a piece of graphene drilled with tiny
holes, GigaOM reported. Across the globe, in
China, a team from the University of Science
and Technology is doing so by using graphene
to prevent the issue of pulverization, the
process through which "flimsier electrodes
become damaged due to ... the swelling from a
battery's charge-discharge cycle," according to
ExtremeTech.
Graphene improves anode structure
Using the research of Harold Kung, a professor
at Northwestern, SiNode is developing a
lithium-ion battery with an anode that can
hold 10 times more energy than usual and that
can be charged significantly faster than
conventional lithium-ion batteries.
GigaOM notes that lithium-ion batteries
currently on the market have anodes made of
graphite, while their cathodes are made of
either cobalt oxide, iron phosphate or
manganese oxide. SiNode has improved on
this type of battery by creating a new type of
anode made of silicon, which can hold more
lithium ions than graphite. Silicon can be
problematic in that it swells when ions enter it;
however, as a MacroCurrent article explains,
"SiNode uses sheets of graphene to support the
silicon, giving it space to swell as ions enter."
Last month, SiNode won $911,400, the grand
prize in the Rice Business Plan Competition; it
is working on raising a further $1.5 million so
that it can bring its technology out of the lab.
Avoiding pulverization with graphene
Researchers at China's University of Science
and Technology are addressing the battery
storage capacity issue in a different way.
A Chemistry World article notes that part of
the energy storage issue is that while "flimsier"
nanostructured electrons can hold more
lithium ions — and in doing so, provide greater
energy storage capacity — they are easily
damaged by pulverization, with the end result
being a reduction in the electrode's capacity.
In constructing one-atom-thick sheets of
cobalt oxide, which ExtremeTech describes as
"not exactly graphene, but close enough to be
considered an analog," the researchers have
been able to bypass the pulverization issue,
thereby "increas[ing] the surface area of
storage capacity."
Like SiNode's technology, the Chinese
university's work is still in the early stages of
development; the researchers may even opt to
part of the energy storage
issue is that while "flimsier"
nanostructured electrons
can hold more lithium ions
they are easily damaged by
pulverization
24 Graphene – Investing in the Future
use a different graphene analog in the long
term.
Limitations remain
As the above examples highlight, investors
would do well to remember that while
graphene clearly has much potential, that
doesn't mean products that contain it will be
hitting the shelves in the near future. In fact,
Chris Berry of House Mountain Partners told
Graphite Investing News last year, "I am not
aware of any widespread commercial use of
graphene by any firms."
More recently, Gary Economo, CEO of Focus
Graphite (TSXV:FMS, OTCQX:FCSMF),
emphasized in an article published on
ProEdgeWire that graphene will be of most
benefit to those countries that promote
research on the material. For example, he
notes that the European Union has announced
a "billion euro, 10-year funding grant for the
investigation of graphene for commercial
development application," while China is
attempting to establish graphene industrial
zones throughout China. The US is also
"heavily engaged" in the commercial and
industrial development of the material.
Canada, on the other hand, needs to "up its
game ... and do more to support graphene
research and development," according to
Economo. While he thinks Canada has the
ability to become a leader in graphene
application development, it will need to follow
the examples of the EU, China and US and
bring academics and commercial developers
together.
Investors should thus think of graphene as a
longer-term investment and consider taking an
interest in companies located in countries that
are actively involved in funding research on
the "wonder material."
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, do not hold
equity interest in any companies mentioned in this article.
25 Graphene – Investing in the Future
MesoGraf™: Overcoming Graphene Commercialization
Obstacles
Interview with the President, CTO & Co-founder of Grafoid
By Charlotte McLeod - Exclusive to Graphite Investing News
Dr. Gordon Chiu, B.Sci, M.Sci, MSTP recipient, ND, is President, Chief Technology
Officer and Co-founder of Grafoid Inc., Described as an “execution-driven
businessman,” Dr. Chiu has combined domestic and international experience in the
biomedical, chemical, cosmetic, medical, and technology industries. A lecturer and
corporate advisor, Dr. Chiu is engaged in the discovery and research of graphene on
behalf of Grafoid and provides advice on project selection with a view to increasing
overall shareholder value.
Graphite Investing News’ Charlotte McLeod talked with Dr. Chiu to get an update on
the company and recent developments.
GIN: Grafoid appears to be positioning
itself and its graphene co-developers as
the leading graphene source in a global
race for graphene dominance. Is
MesoGraf™ superior to other graphene
available today? And, if so, could you
explain why?
Dr. Gordon Chiu: It's superior from a
sourcing perspective because it's derived
directly from graphite. It also has advantages
in that it has a large aspect ratio relative to
other sources of graphene. It also doesn't go
through any oxidative reduction measures. So
oxidation and reduction chemistries are
avoided, thus preserving the high-quality
nature of the material.
Graphite Investing News: Since
graphene’s discovery, its cost and the
availability of a low-cost source that can
be used to produce it appear to be the
chief obstacles to broad
commercialization. Does MesoGraf™
overcome these obstacles?
Dr. Chiu: The method for overcoming
obstacles like that is really to look at graphite
as a viable source. Graphite in abundance
allows scalability to be realized. Then, of
course, the technique to get the graphene out
of the graphite is really where the attention
and focus should be.
GIN: Your website states that
MesoGraf™ is produced from a “safe,
non-destructive extraction process
leaving the lowest possible ecological
footprint.” Could you describe that
process?
Dr. Chiu: The process uses raw ore graphite
that is sourced directly from the ground.
Essentially, we take the graphene from there.
Nobody else does a raw or direct extraction.
Imagine if you were going to the market and
someone offered you a chicken leg. If you
Imagine if you were going to
the market and someone
offered you a chicken leg. If
you could get the chicken
directly from the source,
your quality would be
improved substantially
26 Graphene – Investing in the Future
could get the chicken directly from the source,
your quality would be improved substantially.
Beyond that, let's say you knew the source of
the chicken, but it still wasn’t what you wanted
because it was damaged from being flash
frozen.
We have a similar situation. We know the
source, but if we were to crush, grind and do
all the things people typically do with graphite,
we'd have a material of much lower quality.
Instead, we have a high-quality material that
allows us to basically have this very special
extraction as opposed to any other roundabout
way.
GIN: How adaptable is MesoGraf™?
You've created MesoGraf™-Xide to work
with antibodies to search and destroy
tumorous cancers. But can you apply it
to automobile fabrication, computer
components or genetic configuring, for
example?
Dr. Chiu: It all depends on the partnership.
We've attracted some very interesting partners
for MesoGraf™. There are wonderful
possibilities for going in a number of
directions, and we continuously explore those
options with partners that come along. We
don't see any limitations in going in those
directions.
GIN: Why do you use natural flake
graphite as a source for graphene?
Dr. Chiu: Because it's an abundant, viable
source. You don't have to do anything to it
other than separate the graphene from itself
when it's stacked in graphite. It's the most
direct, abundant source, not an indirect source
like sugar.
GIN: Flake graphite may be a superior
source of graphene, but graphene can
also be manufactured from most any
carbon source. So why aren't there
more graphene producers coming into
the market?
Dr. Chiu: It is difficult to go from just any
carbon source. For example, sugar is
C6H12O6. So along with six carbons, you have
six oxygens and 12 hydrogens. Removing each
of those and recombining them just to have six
carbons as atomically thin sheets, or even
sheets of a few layers, tends to be very costly.
That is one of the major reasons why you don't
see graphene manufacturers being able to scale
– it’s due to the cost of energy to remove some
of those things.
Further, how do you know you're going to
remove all of the oxygens and not leave one of
them behind? Let's say we leave one of them.
How do you know where its position will be?
Maybe it's sometimes on the left side,
sometimes in the middle and other times it's
accompanied by another oxygen on the
opposite side. There are all these
complications each time you make something,
and many things can't be made when you have
these kinds of imperfections and lack of quality
control. If quality control is an issue, that's
where you really want to hone in, and that's
what we're doing.
GIN: It's thought that graphene
polymers and graphene capacitors will
become first-to-market products. You
have at least one development in each of
those sectors. How soon do you see
those developments being
commercialized, and what are your
expectations for growth over the next
decade?
Dr. Chiu: The speed at which
commercialization occurs is highly dependent
on partnerships. If you're making graphene
and you don't find a good partner, you could
be stuck for more than 20 years. And if you
don't find the right partner, then you may not
have the right graphene.
27 Graphene – Investing in the Future
With our partners, we don’t have that problem.
We think that being five, six years out is still
three times, 300 percent faster, 400 percent
faster than the outside competition. That's
where it's faster. There may be additional
breakthroughs like we've had with certain
partners, such as Hydro-Quebec, that may lead
to more rapid discoveries or advances in what
we're doing. But that's all relative to who the
partner is.
GIN: Thank you for speaking with me.
Dr. Chiu: Thank you.
28 Graphene – Investing in the Future
The Graphene Industrial Revolution is Coming
Graphene's thermal and electrical capabilities and material strength, "will change
the face of many, many discoveries," Grafoid's Dr. Gordon Chiu states in the video
below. However, graphene's potential applications require material that's
repeatable, has high-quality control and good supply. That means using defective
material is not possible.
That's where the Graphite Zero process, which was invented out of the National University of
Singapore, comes in. As Chiu explains, there are four particular things that make it very powerful.
Watch the video to find out what they are.
29 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Grafoid - A Global Graphene Platform
Private
Grafoid Inc. is a privately held graphene research, development and investment
company partnered with Focus Graphite Inc., owner of the high-grade Lac Knife,
Quebec graphite deposit. It invests in, manages, and develops markets for processes
that produce economically scalable, high energy density, high purity graphene used
in graphene development applications with leading corporations and institutions.
The company’s leading investment
produces high-energy bilayer and trilayer
graphene from a safe, non-destructive
extraction process leaving the lowest
possible ecological footprint. The gamechanging
process achieves the global
standard for economically scalable
graphene products through MesoGraf™ –
the world’s first trademarked graphene that
can be tailored to industrial, commercial,
military, biomedical and humanitarian
applications.
In addition to pilot plant scale production
and R&D facilities in Singapore, Grafoid
now hosts MesoGraf™’s laboratories and
production facilities at Queen’s University’s
Innovation Park, in Kingston, Ontario,
Canada and at its U.S. facilities in New
Jersey..
What’s the Opportunity?
? The opportunity is in involvement in the
graphene revolution – in a unique
company.
? It has a proprietary process. A game
changer
? It has a guaranteed supply of high purity
graphite
? It is partnering with the right players
? It has proven its process, product, and
commercial acceptance
Grafoid is a fast-growing private company and
innovator aiming to become the global leader in
graphene development. It has earned its standing in
the graphene community by setting the universal
standard for the production of affordable, highperforming,
scalable graphene, and; by developing
graphene applications for the betterment of
humanity in conjunction with like-minded partners.
30 Graphene – Investing in the Future
MesoGraf™
Grafoid invested scientific expertise and
financial support that led to the codevelopment
of a unique process for
transforming graphite ore to graphene.
This unique process has led to the bulk
production of MesoGraf™, a suite of
economically scalable graphene products that
can be tailored to meet application needs on a
pan-industrial basis.
Independent testing confirms MesoGraf™’s
performance is peerless in terms of its highenergy
density and unique physical
characteristics. It is a product that sets the
global standard for stable, reliable,
economically scalable and reproducible
graphene.
Global Platform
In May, 2013 Grafoid introduced its
MesoGraf™ graphene and its global platform
of Focus Graphite, Grafoid, Graphite Zero and
the National University of Singapore. Grafoid
sees this quartet as a strategic key that unlocks
the investment door to the next global
economic and industrial revolution.
? Focus Graphite is a source of high- grade,
high-purity graphite
? Graphite Zero manages MesoGraf™
research and development at production
facilities in Singapore and North America,
linking with the NUS Graphene Centre
? Grafoid is responsible for managing
MesoGraf™’s marketing and business
development, joint venture partner
development and corporate and investor
relations
Focus Graphite holds a substantial stake in
Grafoid and Grafoid holds a majority stake in
Graphite Zero.
This platform offers the most direct, clearest,
fastest, affordable way towards graphene’s
commercialization on a global scale.
31 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Towards Commercialization
Grafoid has just completed an exhaustive twoyear
process to prove its scientific and
commercial viability:
? In material science: it has validated its
investment in a patent-pending one-step
process of creating graphene directly from
graphite ore. The quality of the graphene
has been tested by major corporations and
academic institutions and has been
evaluated by an experienced third-party. It
is now the largest producer of graphene in
the world.
? In commercial development: it has
embarked on a comprehensive program to:
o Raise awareness of its revolutionary
graphite-to-MesoGraf™ process that
leads to affordable, scalable and
reproducible graphene production and
availability.
o Profile Grafoid’s corporate brand, as an
emerging and significant participant in
the graphene space
? In testing market acceptance: it has
proven significant market potential by
attracting named joint venture partners to
develop graphene applications. Rutgers
University, Hydro Quebec, the University
of Waterloo and CVD Equipment
Corporation have been announced; others
are under development and have yet to be
announced.
? In attracting investment funding: the
company raised $10 million in private
placement funding in 2013 and will be
raising more from private placement
funding in 2014.
? Launched a Global Platform: Grafoid
leads a global platform – including Focus
Graphite, Graphite Zero and National
University of Singapore’s Graphene
Research Center – one of the premier
graphene science institutes in the world.
Management
Jeffrey York – Chairman and Founding
Partner
Gary Economo –CEO, and Founding Partner
Dr. Gordon Chiu, B.Sc., M.Sc., MSTP recipient,
ND. – President , CTO and Founding Partner
Judith T. Mazvihwa-MacLean – CFO
Chester Burtt – Corporate Communications
For Grafoid’s full profile,
visit:
Graphite Investing News
Graphene is the material that will forever change the world.
Grafoid has established itself as a global leader in graphene
innovation by investing in the development of materials and
processes that lead change.
Our MesoGraf™ graphene is unique. So too our global platform
which makes MesoGrafTM and its derivatives possible.
New materials created by our diverse industrial and institutional
partnerships and the engineering know-how built into two
North American MesoGraf™ production facilities enable
successful outcomes.
Changing the game. Grafoid is leading the world toward
graphene’s commercialization.
GRAFOID
grafoid.com
A Complete Solutions
Graphene Company
33 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Scientists Create Graphene Quantum Dots from Coal
By Charlotte McLeod - Exclusive to Graphite Investing News
Widely regarded as the "wonder material" of the 21st century, graphene, a
crystalline allotrope of carbon, is not a fixture in the coal space. However, research
released last week by Texas-based Rice University suggests that may be about to
change.
In a press release announced early in
December 2013, the university states that
chemist James Tour has found "simple
methods" of reducing three kinds of coal into
"microscopic discs of atom-thick graphene
oxide" known as graphene quantum dots
(GQDs).
What is graphene?
Sounds impressive. But what exactly is
graphene?
As mentioned, graphene is an allotrope of
carbon, a characteristic it shares with
diamonds and graphite. Put simply, all three
are made up of carbon atoms bonded together
in different ways. For instance, graphite
consists of carbon atoms bonded together in
sheets of a hexagonal lattice, while graphene is
made up of a single graphite sheet.
Graphene's claim to fame comes from a variety
of interesting characteristics. As The Guardian
explains in a recent
article, it is a better
electricity conductor than
copper, is impermeable to
gases, is 200 times
stronger than steel — but
six times lighter — and is
"almost perfectly
transparent since it only
absorbs 2% of light."
Further, "chemical
components can be added
to its surface to alter its
properties."
Scientists have been working hard to put those
qualities to good use. In the past year alone,
research has shown that graphene may be able
to revolutionize the technology surrounding
lithium-ion batteries, cancer treatment,
desalination and much more.
However, while those in the industry are
pushing to get graphene commercialized —
private company Grafoid, for one, believes its
MesoGraf™ offers the "most direct, clearest,
fastest, affordable way towards graphene’s
commercialization on a global scale" — as yet,
the world is not quite there.
Tour believes his discovery may be able to help
GQDs get to that point.
Graphene from coal
Explaining the process he used to make the
GQDs, Tour said that he used sound energy to
agitate three different types of coal —
bituminous, anthracite and coke — in nitric
and sulfuric acids and heated them for 24
hours.
"We wanted to see what’s there in coal that
might be interesting, so we put it through a
34 Graphene – Investing in the Future
very simple oxidation procedure," the Rice
University press release quotes him as saying.
The end result was that bituminous coal
produced GQDs between 2 and 4 nanometers
wide, while coke produced GQDs between 4
and 8 nanometers wide. Anthracite, on the
other hand, made "stacked structures from 18
to 40 nanometers, with small round layers
atop larger, thinner layers."
The dots are water soluble and, according to
early tests, nontoxic, meaning that they can
potentially be used as antioxidants. Tour
believes that the fact that they "show robust
performance as fluorescent agents" may
indicate that they could be used for medical
imaging as well. "Because they’re so stable," —
unlike standard probes, which lose their
fluorescence when hit with high-powered
lasers — "they could theoretically make
imaging more efficient," he said.
However, perhaps most important are the cost
savings offered by Tour's discovery. Graphite,
which graphene is usually derived from, "is
$2,000 a ton for the best there is, from the
U.K.," he said. "Cheaper graphite is $800 a ton
from China. And coal is $10 to $60 a ton."
Putting it a little more bluntly, he explained,
"[c]oal is the cheapest material you can get for
producing GQDs, and we found we can get a
20 percent yield. So this discovery can really
change the quantum dot industry. It’s going to
show the world that inside of coal are these
very interesting structures that have real
value."
So watch out, graphite. While Tour isn't saying
that he can single-handedly commercialize
graphene, he does seem to think that he may
be able to do so for GQDs.
35 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Cancer Treatment R&D: Graphene-based Photothermal Therapy
By Melissa Pistilli - Exclusive to Life Science Investing News
Graphene, heralded as the Super Material of the 21st Century, has quickly moved
from the ground-breaking research stage to the marketplace in less than a decade.
Numerous applications for the carbon-based material have been developed for use
in a wide-range of industries including automotive, electronics, and energy storage.
Researchers continue to make significant advancements in developing even more
life-changing applications.
The latest advancements, and perhaps those
with the most significance, are finding a role
in the field of medicine, including in drug
delivery, biological sensing and imaging,
antibacterial materials, and tissue
engineering. In Europe, where the EU is
funding a 10-year, 1.35 billion euro
coordination action on graphene, the
European Medicines Agency (EMA) has
already advanced and written regulations for
the use of nanomaterials including
graphene-based products. Likewise, the FDA
is drafting regulations supporting the
development of nanomaterials.
Calevia Inc., a private biotechnology
company formed in partnership with
ProScanRxPharma Inc. and Grafoid Inc., is
now working to develop an innovative
graphene-based photothermal therapeutic
platform for various cancers. Calevia’s goal is
to develop a treatment that targets tumor
cells at the molecular level offering better
therapeutic efficacy and improved safety
over traditional cancer treatments including
surgery, radiation therapy and
pharmacology.
Surgery and radiation therapy is
indiscriminate when it comes to cancer cells
and surrounding healthy cell tissue, which
can leave patients with serious quality of life
issues. In prostate cancer patients, for
example, these issues may include
incontinence and impotency in a large
proportion of patients undergoing invasive
procedures. What’s needed in the cancer
treatment space is a less-invasive, welldesigned
treatment that targets cancer cells
only, leaving healthy cells intact thus
reducing side effects and allowing patients to
retain normal organ function.
Life Science Investing News (LSIN) recently
spoke with Dr. Claude Vezeau, President and
CEO of Calevia, who provided some insight
into what makes graphene well-suited for
cancer therapy.
LSIN: Currently, Calevia is in the R&D
stage with a prostate cancer-targeted
treatment. Can you tell us more about
the product you’re developing?
Dr. Claude Vezeau: The tumor-specific
and photoactivable bio-conjugate we are
developing targets prostate cancer and
combines two well-characterized products:
ProScan’s prostate cancer antibody ligand
(PSC1700) and Grafoid’s functionalized and
photoresponsive nanomaterial
MesoGraf™Xide, a derivative of the
universal standard and most pristine form of
graphene, MesoGraf™. Our partner ProScan
has developed and licensed to Calevia its
humanized monoclonal antibody PSC1700
that is highly selective for PSMA, a protein
that is over-expressed at the surface of
prostate cancer cells and a recognized tumor
marker. We’re attaching this PSMA ligand
to, MesoGraf™Xide, supplied by our second
partner, Grafoid to create a targeted
photoresponsive, injectable bio-conjugate.
LSIN: Why graphene? What about this
material makes it ideally suited to
treating cancer cells?
36 Graphene – Investing in the Future
CV: Graphene has many commercially
important properties, but the one that is of
interest to Calevia is its photothermal
property. MesoGraf™Xide is a graphenebased
nano-material that can absorb nearinfrared
light (NIL) and transform it into
heat instantly. Cells are sensitive to heat, so
it doesn’t have to be a very high temperature
—10 to 12 degrees above normal body
temperature. At 42 degrees Celsius, cells
become sluggish and above 46 degrees,
irreversible cellular damage occurs and they
die. Therefore, heat becomes the physical
treatment that can kill the cancer cells with
precision and efficacy when guided to the
cancer area by a selective ligand. And that’s
what we’re developing. A molecularlytargeted
medical treatment that uses
localized temperature elevation for the
ablation of tumors.
LSIN: How will this graphene-based
photothermal therapy target cancer
cells without harming surrounding
healthy cells?
CV: Following intravenous injection, the
bio-conjugate will distribute throughout the
patient’s body. The anti-PSMA antibody
(PSC1700) will then bind to the targeted
cells and start to accumulate on those cells.
The non-bonded bio-conjugate will be
eliminated from the body. The PSMA antibody
is a smart bomb that acutely targets the
prostate cancer cells. That’s the beauty of a
molecular targeted treatment. Once the bioconjugate
has accumulated at the surface of
the cancer cells, a harmless and tissue
penetrating near-infrared light is applied
transcutaneously to the cancer area. The
photoreactive MesoGraf™Xide will then
absorb and transform the NIL into heat,
killing the PSMA-expressing cancer cells
while sparing surrounding healthy tissues—
a clear advantage over other forms of
therapy. Our goal is to provide the patient
with a non-invasive, out-patient clinical
option that is efficient, and has low-side
effects and preserves physiological functions.
LSIN: What’s the market for prostate
cancer treatment?
CV: Prostate cancer is the most common
localized cancer in men with 200,000 new
cases each year in the United States. It’s a
huge market in need of significant clinical
improvement. Industry research projects the
prostate cancer market to be about $50
billion by 2017.
LSIN: Any competition currently in
this space?
CV: We haven’t seen any graphene-based
photothermal treatments in significant
advanced stages of development. There is
thermal therapy for cancer using ultrasound,
or microwave irradiation, but the technology
is not selective and is highly dependent on
the operator’s skills and accurate mapping of
the cancer area to spare healthy tissue. If our
non-invasive graphene photothermal
treatment proves effective, no man would
choose surgery over a targeted treatment
that leaves healthy cells unaffected.
Additionally, with this treatment we should
be able to reach those local microscopic
cancer spreads and hopefully lower relapse
rates, which now stand at about 30 percent
using traditional treatments. We offer the
alternative to the traditional surgery,
radiotherapy and hormonal therapy early on
in the disease.
LSIN: What other types of cancer
would you be targeting down the line?
CV: Calevia aims to develop a suit of
MesoGraf™Xide bio-conjugates targeting
early-stage localized tumors associated with
various diseases including urological cancers
such as kidney and bladder, those associated
with the head and neck as well as breast
cancer and skin. As long as we have a tumor
specific ligand we can combine it with
37 Graphene – Investing in the Future
MesoGraf™Xide to create a cancer-specific
photothermal bio-conjugate.
LSIN: What are Calevia’s goals for the
next 2 years?
CV: We have three goals for the next 2 years.
The first is to further develop our
MesoGraf™Xide platform to accept various
cancer selective ligands, with very small
modifications, in order to target other
cancers. The second goal is to create a first
bio-conjugate product for prostate cancer
using the highly validated and humanized
PSC1700 and MesoGraf™Xide. Both the
PSMA antibody and the MesoGraf™Xide
material are very well characterized and we
have begun working the chemistry to create
the bio-conjugate. The third goal is to test
the prostate-specific bio-conjugate in
cellular and prostate cancer animal models,
including mouse xenograft and a
translational dog model.
LSIN: When do you expect to initiate
human clinical trials?
CV: That’s about two years out. We’ve
already started to talk to some investigators,
and urologists are keenly interested in our
approach as they see huge benefit for
patients. One thing that is interesting, the
EMA has already advanced and written their
regulations for carbon-based nanomaterials.
So we know their regulations and we know
investigators that are ready to work with our
product to bring it to first-in-human and
proof of concept in human trials.
LSIN: How will you finance the next
two years of study?
CV: We’ve just completed our first round of
financing that will be used to support the
next two years of research. We presented at
the Rodman & Renshaw Global Investment
Conference in September 2013, the first big
presentation for Calevia. Although Calevia is
a new company, it’s not a start-up. We have
a well-characterized, humanized antibody
which we have a license to and the
MesoGraf™Xide is well-developed as well.
We’re now working to create the bioconjugate
which is quite simple chemistry.
Our partner Grafoid is well-known in the
market, busy developing all types of
applications for graphene and is able to
produce at a large scale and at low cost. They
are a valuable partner for us from a
development and financing perspective.
They have already opened many doors for
us.
LSIN: Thank you for your time,
Claude. Wonderful speaking with you.
CV: You as well. Thank You.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct
investment interest in any company mentioned in this
article.
38 Graphene – Investing in the Future
Notes
i Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 Award Ceremony Speech, Professor Per Delsing, member Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences, http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/presentationspeech.
html
ii On the Atomic Weight of Graphite. Brodie, B Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (1854-
1905). 1859-01-01. 10:11–12, https://archive.org/details/philtrans03630074
iii http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/
iv Graphene: Materials in the Flatland. Novoselov, Konstantin. Nobel Lecture. P. 109.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/novoselov_lecture.pdf
v Carbon Wonderland. Geim, A.; Kim, P. Scientific American.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=carbon-wonderland
vi Phys.org, A Smarter Way to Grow Graphene. http://www.physorg.com/news129980833.html
vii 9 Incredible Uses for Graphene, Leslie Horn, Gizmodo. http://gizmodo.com/5988977/9-incredibleuses-
for-graphene
viii Another tiny miracle: Graphene oxide soaks up radioactive waste.
http://news.rice.edu/2013/01/08/another-tiny-miracle-graphene-oxide-soaks-up-radioactive-waste-
2/
ix http://investorintel.com/graphite-graphene-intel/the-global-graphene-race/
x http://scientificentrepreneur.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/the-commercialization-of-graphene/
xi http://www.graphenea.com/pages/graphene-price#.UouAbsRJNNA
xii Graphene: status and prospects. Geim, A. http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0906/0906.3799.pdf
xiii Speech by Gary Economo
The Global Standard for Graphene