MATERIALS
GRAPHENE FROM PROMISE TO PRODUCT
WWW.MADEIN.IE « SEPTEMBER 2020 « 21
also spearheads eff orts for the
commercialisation of graphene,
preparing for its widespread adoption in
industry.
Over halfway through the ten-year
project, the Graphene Flagship has
successfully developed more than 25
commercial products, using the
impressive conductivity, strength and
fl exibility of graphene to improve on the
properties of previously used materials.
Among these projects are a graphene
motorcycle helmet. Researchers from IIT
and Italian design company Momodesign
incorporated graphene into the exterior
shell of this helmet as a coating. This
coating allows better distribution of
Remember the computer
triode? Unless you’re an
early-tech enthusiast,
it’s unlikely. Used as
switches in the fi rst
electronic computers,
these vacuum tubes consumed a great
deal of power. They were unreliable
and upon the invention of silicon chips,
were quickly replaced. That is the
power that new materials can have.
Graphene, a material that is just a one
atom thick, has exceptional physical
properties. The European Commission
launched the Graphene Flagship in 2013
to facilitate the transition of graphene
and related materials from academic
laboratories to applications. With a
budget of €1 billion and initial period of
ten years, the Graphene Flagship is one
of Europe’s biggest research initiative,
aiming not only to continue developing
graphene in academic laboratories, but
A new material has the potential to shift entire industries.
Here, Kari Hjelt, Head of Innovation of the Graphene Flagship
explains how graphene is set to do the same.
impact force and the excellent heatconductive
properties of the graphene
dissipate heat quickly across the helmet,
protecting the inner materials from
thermal degradation. The result is a
helmet with improved thermal comfort
and safety.
Another success is the Elesia Air
Cooling Unit EL-ACU-1000 features an
innovative approach in the design of
high-performance air conditioning.
Nanesa produced the evaporator and
condenser unit through modern
nanotechnology, using aluminium foam
slices covered with a graphene-copper
coating. These two components act as
heat sinks, resulting in a compact
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