Haydale’s Enabling Technology for Commercialising Graphene Positively Reported on by NPL

May 6, 2014 - PRLog -- South Wales, UK, May,  2014.Haydale, the developer of a unique plasma functionalisation process to commercialise graphene, has announced that the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has characterised and positively reported on graphene nanomaterials functionalised via Haydale’s proprietary plasma process.

The Haydale plasma process has the potential to offer the tailored functionalisation of graphene nanomaterials whilst maintaining structural integrity – a key barrier to the commercialisation of graphene.

Functionalising graphene is a vital step as it allows graphene to combine with other materials such as polymers in composite materials. It is challenging because graphene can be unreactive and the process needs to preserve the physical structure of the material, so that its many beneficial properties are not lost.

Ray Gibbs, CEO at Haydale, said: “We are delighted that NPL has characterised and positively commented on samples of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) functionalised via our proprietary plasma process. This is an important step forward for the enabling technology, and further underlines the strong potential tailored functionalisation via plasma has in terms of commercialising the graphene industry. Graphene has such fantastic potential to revolutionise a wide range of industries and applications, but requires specific functionalisation without damaging the material structure or adding impurities. We believe our proprietary plasma process will allow this potential to be realised, enabling material suppliers to add value to the base product, and providing tailored solutions for end-user application manufacturers.”

According to the report released in February, NPL characterised the functionalised GNP using two advanced measurement techniques: X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). XPS uses X-rays to identify and determine the concentration of chemicals on the surface of materials such as graphene with extreme sensitivity. FTIR uses infrared light to probe graphene, detecting the energy that is reflected back, absorbed or scattered, in order to characterise chemical groups present on the graphene surface. The combination of these techniques provides comprehensive information about the chemical properties of the graphene samples.

Andrew Pollard, who leads graphene measurement work in NPL's Nanoanalysis Group, said: "The measurement services we provide at NPL have led to the successful characterisation of graphene samples functionalised with Haydale’s unique plasma process. This represents an important step forward for measurement science in this area and for the future of the commercialisation of graphene itself. We are committed to continue developing international standards for graphene terminology and characterisation methods and believe the functionalisation of this exciting material has the potential to allow the properties of graphene to be fully realised."

Unlike current wet processes which damage material structure, Haydale’s proprietary plasma process allows for the tailored functionalisation of graphene nanomaterials, such as GNP, without damaging the material structures. The process may also clean up material impurities inherent in the raw material and can repair defects in the base material. The process can functionalise with a range of standard and exotic chemical groups, allowing Haydale to match a product with the most appropriate functionalisation to meet customer specifications.

- ENDS –

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About Haydale

Haydale is a global leader in facilitating the commercial application of graphenes. As an enabling technology, Haydale by working with both raw material suppliers and product manufacturers can provide a rapid and highly cost efficient method of supplying tailored solutions to enhance an application.

Haydale has patents pending for a low temperature plasma (under 100°C) process that overcomes a key barrier to the functionalisation of large scale production of Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNP) and Carbon Nanotubes (CNT). The process can functionalise with a range of standard and exotic chemical groups (Fluorine is one such example), where the amount of chemicals can be tailored to the customer needs. Good dispersion optimises the properties and performance and ensures it delivers as specified.

In particular the Haydale split-plasma functionalisation process is capable of being tailored to produce a wide range of surface modifications, including chemical groups suitable for bonding or repelling specific chemicals. This process will substantially improve compatibility between the nanomaterials and any matrix or binder material.

The Haydale split plasma process does not use wet chemistry, neither does it damage the material being processed, rather it can clean up impurities inherent in the raw material and may even repair some of the defects in the base material. The technology is a low energy user and most importantly environmentally friendly.  The Haydale method is an enabling technology where working with a raw material producer can add value to the base product and tailor the outputs to meet the target applications of the end user.

Now housed in a new facility for processing and handling nanomaterials with a lab facility, Haydale combined with a scalable technology, is facilitating the application of graphenes and other nanomaterials in fields such as inks, sensors, energy storage, photovoltaics, composites, paints and coatings.