Graphene’s spec sheet reads like a superhero’s profile. Two hundred times stronger than steel, a million times thinner than a human hair and a thousand times more conductive than copper, it’s no surprise that the substance has been called a ‘miracle material’.
When the sheet was carbon first isolated in 2004 at the University of Manchester, the breakthrough shocked the scientific world. Numerous uses for the “miracle substance” were envisioned, from storing solar energy to bonding batteries into bodies. Plans were drawn up at the EU to capitalize on the material’s promise.
In 2013, the block launched the Graphene Flagship, an initiative to commercialize the material. Backed by a €1 billion budget and nearly 170 academic and industrial partners in 22 countries, the project raised hopes that Europe would become a graphene powerhouse. However, the early “graphene gold rush” did not immediately lead to wealth. But slowly a promising sector is emerging on the continent.
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One of Europe’s torchbearers is Inbrain Neuroelectricity. The spin-off Graphene Flagship, founded in 2019, uses the material to develop neural interfaces. Next year, the Spanish startup plans to set another graphene milestone in the UK: the first time the material has been implanted in a human brain.
Inbrain’s groundbreaking trial will assess the suitability of graphene-based implants for treating brain disorders. If proven safe and effective, the material could offer numerous benefits to neural interfaces.
We can also see the biomarkers at least 10 times better.
Carolina Aguilar, co-founder and CEO of Inbrain, highlights three specific benefits: miniaturization, reliability, and high-resolution brain signals. This combination allows Inbrain to decode detailed biomarkers of neural activity while minimizing power consumption and ensuring stability. Over time, the devices could produce personalized, therapeutic treatments for neurological disorders.
These features distinguish graphene from more commonly used metals, such as platinum idiom. Miniaturizing these materials can compromise their durability and electrical impedance.
“We can also see the biomarkers at least 10 times better than with platinum-iridium,” says Aguilar. “And in some cases, platinum doesn’t even detect these biomarkers, these brain waves that are essential to not only detect, but stimulate and then correct.”
Graphene also gives Inbrain an edge over Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain chip startup. Neuralink devices use a material called Pedot, which degrades much faster than graphene.
However, these properties are no guarantee of commercial success. Despite its unique properties, bringing graphene to market remains a challenge.
Leave the lab
The Graphene Flagship is not without criticism. Experts have questioned the value of the EU’s huge investments and the slow process of developing real-world applications. The speed shouldn’t be too surprising, though.
“Science is the easy part,” said Konstantin Novoselov, one of the University of Manchester scientists who won a Nobel Prize for isolating graphene. “To develop a technology, you need to know what products you’re targeting, and this has to come from the industry.”
It often takes decades to take a new material from discovery to commercialization. In graphene development, perhaps the biggest current problem is providing cost-effective production.
One of the most promising solutions was developed by Section, a company that markets graphene-based electronics. The Cambridge University spin-out has developed a method to produce high-quality graphene on semiconductor wafers with a diameter of up to 20 cm.
Graphene can reboot Moore’s law.
Paragraf claims to be the first company to offer scalable production of graphene-based electronic devices.
“The challenge was to mass-produce graphene in electronics using standard semiconductor processes,” Paragraph CCO Tom Wilson tells TNW. “Paragraf really did that. Paragraf has made graphene an industry-ready solution.”
Paragraf’s graphene-based sensors can power a range of applications from quantum computing to rapid COVID-19 testing. The first customers include Rolls-Royce and the Cern research laboratory.
Wilson is optimistic about the benefits of graphene for computer chips.
“Many are familiar with Moore’s Law, where the benefits we get from going smaller, submicrons, have leveled off over time. Graphene has the promise of rebooting Moore’s Law.”
However, this potential is hampered by a global shortage of semiconductors.
A global race is heating up
The Paragraf team has expressed frustration at the UK’s delay in launching a semiconductor strategy. They have also expressed concern about the post-Brexit talent pipeline and inadequate support for university spin-offs.
In August, Paragraf CEO Simon Thomas threatened to move the company’s base to the US because the UK government “doesn’t know what it’s doing”.
Wilson adds that clear trade and customs agreements are needed to facilitate the acquisition of capital assets, in addition to new immigration policies to improve access to talent.
Whichever way they go, the key is clarity.
“While we would certainly welcome it if the UK government could find the money to create the equivalent of a US or European ‘crisp law’, we don’t expect that to happen,” he says.
“What we do hope is that the government will provide the necessary support, either by getting out of the way or by introducing supportive legislation – whichever way they go, the key is clarity and the removal of uncertainty so that companies to move on and do their job. what it does best.”
In the meantime, the EU could give the green light to the European Chips Act at the end of the year. The new legislation aims to increase the bloc’s share of global chip production from the current 5% to 20% by the end of 2030.
That would boost Inbrain’s technology, which also relies on semiconductors. For Aguilar, the company’s CEO, the EU’s biggest shortcomings are insufficient venture capital and infrastructure support.
“For R&D,” she told Europe spent a lot on the R and not much on the D say.
Despite the challenges, optimism about the future of graphene is once again growing. Wilson believes that “a revolution in electronics with advanced materials” has begun. But Europe still needs to strengthen its place at the forefront.
Production challenges, financing gaps and competition from China and the US remain major obstacles to the EU’s ambitions. The bloc has yet to find mass markets for the miracle material.
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