MATERIALS
SETTING STANDARDS FOR
NEW MATERIALS
Standardisation describes
the creation and
implementation of
technical standards
and measurement
techniques. These
should be based on the consensus
of stakeholders including end
users, businesses, standards
organisations and governments.
This is an important step in the
development of any new material.
Fundamentally, users want to know
that a product is genuine, safe and
will perform in the way they expect.
When bringing new materials to
market, standardisation also means
industry has more confi dence in the
material and will increase its rate of
uptake and commercialisation.
Standardisation has been a step in
the industrialisation of almost every
new material discovered. Where
graphene is diff erent, is that this
process is happening proactively.
Rather than waiting for industry to
develop its own standards,
organisations like the Graphene
Flagship, with standardisation bodies
the International Electrotechnical
Committee (IEC) and International
Standardisation Organization (ISO),
are working to develop new
standards to enable the widespread
use of graphene.
Why graphene standardisation
is important
The main function of standards is to
defi ne the qualities and technical
properties of a material to ensure
consistency across diff erent
manufacturers and industries. For a
very new material like graphene,
standardisation will enable easier
communication between producers
and consumers and can be used to
market graphene-based products
more accurately.
For organisations hoping to use
graphene in their technologies,
18 » MARCH 2021 » WWW.MADEIN.IE
Determining accepted technical standards for graphene will play
a large part in meeting that deadline. In this article, Thurid Gspann,
chair of the Graphene Flagship Standardisation Committee (GFSC),
explains why standardisation is important.
applying standards can lower costs
in research and development. This
removes the need to embark on
lengthy research projects or
manufacture multiple prototypes to
test the materials performance.
Standardisation also
improves quality control
and purchasing,
allowing users to
increase effi ciency
and lower costs. It
can also enable
better access to the
market through
improved trust and
reliability, reduce
liability risks, and avoid
regulatory issues. This is
particularly important for a
material that’s still in its infancy.
One of the key challenges facing
the standardisation of graphene is
terminology. In fact, when discussing
graphene, people are usually actually
referring to graphene and graphene
related materials (GRMs).
Each term, graphene, few-layer
graphene, monolayer graphene, must
be defi ned. While terminology may
seem insignifi cant compared to
the chemical and structural
properties of a
designated material, it
is still essential when
it comes to
designing and
marketing products
that use graphene.
Graphene
Flagship and
standardisation
The GFSC has been part
“Standardisation
improves quality
purchasing, allowing
users to increase
effi ciency and lower
costs. It can also
enable better access
of the Graphene Flagship
control and
to the market”
from its inception, but now the
project is in its third phase and
graphene is closer to
commercialisation, interest from
industry is increasing. The GFSC
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