News — graphene oxide manufacturer

William Blythe recently announced the launch of a new collaborative project with the National Graphene Institute (NGI) at the University of Manchester. This project will investigate novel anode materials for use in energy storage, specifically targeting increased capacity to extend the range of current electric vehicles. Andrew Hurst, Managing Director at William Blythe commented: "We are excited to be undertaking this important development project with Professor Dryfe and his team at the NGI. A combination of William Blythe’s capability in inorganic chemistry and the Institute's global pre-eminence in graphene offers real potential to solve one of the significant problems limiting the adoption of electric vehicles."

Throughout this two year project, William Blythe will supply GOgraphene graphene oxide products to researchers throughout the NGI. The arrangement established will allow extended access to William Blythe’s material which is already in use in a number of projects at the Institute.

Professor Vladimir Falko, Director of the National Graphene Institute said: “The researchers based in the NGI rely on highly consistent and top-quality graphene materials to progress our research and aid in the development of commercial applications. This new partnership with William Blythe allows the University’s graphene scientists greater access to necessary materials with which to work with, in tandem with a project exploring the possibilities of 2D materials and new battery technologies.”

On the 2nd and 3rd November, the city of Cambridge will stage a unique crossover of the 4th Graphene and New Materials and the 15th High Value Manufacturing (HVM) conferences, hosted by the Cambridge Investment Research (CIR) team. This prestigious event will showcase the most recent advances for industrial automation in HVM and the use of graphene materials in applications such as aerospace & defence, electronics, sensors, energy storage, printing and biomedicine, delivered by senior executives and experts in each respective field.

William Blythe will be among those presenting in the ‘Enabling Technology and Industry’ Session on the first day of the conference. This presentation will briefly explore William Blythe as a company, their development and scale up work on graphene oxide which has been achieved in recent years, before concluding with the company’s ability to tune graphene oxide to suit a variety of applications.

The inclusion of graphene materials throughout this conference evidences the materials' flexibility in a variety of sectors, and the drive to commercialise these 2D materials. William Blythe aims to work with its customers in optimising graphene oxide to each specific application and therefore hopes to connect with researchers interested in graphene oxide at this event. If you would like to learn more about our aims, or to arrange a meeting with a member of the William Blythe team at this event, please get in touch.

William Blythe became corporate members of The Graphene Council in August 2016 as part of their ongoing research into graphene oxide. As the world’s largest community of graphene professionals, The Graphene Council works with experts worldwide to support the commercialisation of graphene materials.

Since launching graphene oxide as a commercial product via the GOgraphene webshop just over a year ago, William Blythe has worked to actively engage with the wider graphene community through several platforms, including opportunities presented via The Graphene Council. The team at William Blythe maintain an active calendar of graphene related events around the world, details of upcoming events can be found on the William Blythe website.

If you have any questions regarding the ongoing graphene oxide work taking place at William Blythe, or if you have any questions related to the products available on our GOgraphene webshop, please get in touch and a member of the team will be happy to help.

After a 12 month development programme, William Blythe launched their GOgraphene webshop to supply research scale quantities of graphene oxide to the market. Just over 6 months later, William Blythe is now seeking to not only increase their graphene oxide capacity, but also to start working with leaders in the field on developing application enhanced grades of graphene oxide.

Over the past few weeks, William Blythe have attended several graphene oxide and 2D material related events throughout Europe, listening to the requirements of the exciting technologies graphene oxide is being applied in. A recent event at the National Graphene Institute (NGI) in Manchester, UK, gave the opportunity for one of William Blythe’s Development Chemists to present on our graphene oxide. Looking at how the project was conceived through to commercialisation and next steps, the presentation allowed the attending researchers, both academic and industrial, to learn more about how William Blythe can help to develop and commercialise the materials they need.

Our team will continue to attend events to learn more about industry requirements, with the next one scheduled for the 21st June, also at the NGI. If you are holding an event and would like William Blythe to participate, please send us the details.

Graphene oxide was first reported in the literature over 150 years ago, at a time when there was little interest in exploring the benefits of the material in the multitude of application areas it is currently being used in. Interest in graphene oxide rose dramatically with the discovery of, and Nobel prize for, graphene. The subsequent years have seen the use of graphene oxide in a diverse range of applications, with many researchers focussing on graphene oxide as a potential precursor material for graphene with specific graphene oxide applications now under development.

With no suppliers, initial graphene oxide researchers were unable to purchase graphene oxide and therefore synthesised all of their own material. Despite multiple graphene oxide suppliers launching a variety of products for this market in the past few years, some researchers are still undecided as to whether they should purchase or make their own graphene oxide for their work. While William Blythe understand that there are always reasons to synthesise your own graphene oxide, we have tried to overcome some of the most common concerns around purchase with our GOgraphene webshop.

Consistent quality 

William Blythe are aware that some suppliers do not offer a consistent product. As an established chemicals manufacturer with over 150 years’ experience supplying chemicals, we ensure our graphene oxide meets the same high standards as our other products before we dispatch your order.

Flexibility

Buying from someone else will always reduce some of the flexibility compared to in house synthesis. William Blythe have tried to overcome this by offering multiple product forms, developing a high concentration dispersion which can be easily diluted and by taking requests for custom functionalisation of our standard material.

Availability 

To keep results comparable, most researchers do not want to swap materials supply part way through their research programme. We monitor our stock levels carefully to make sure we always have enough of our graphene oxide to fulfil our orders. Keep an eye on our lead times if you have any concerns

Volume 

Graphene oxide is currently only available for purchase online in relatively low quantities. Some researchers are concerned that the raw materials availability will prevent their application from being scalable. As William Blythe has already developed scale-up plans, this need not be a concern. Not only is our process is scalable, but within 12 months of demand projections requiring it, William Blythe can scale on to a dedicated multi-tonne production facility.

Price 

Some materials suppliers fluctuate their prices, meaning there are some researchers who do not want to become reliant on a materials supplier. The graphene oxide available on the GOgraphene webshop has never been increased in price. Depending on the currency you are purchasing in, the screen may display slight variations, however our GBP pricing has not been increased since launch.

We hope that the above helps to alleviate some of the concerns which we know exist in the marketplace. If you have other concerns or questions regarding purchase versus in house synthesis, please get in touch. There are a host of benefits to purchasing graphene oxide, including saving time and removing the need for hazardous synthesis. If you are ready to switch to buying graphene oxide, please take a look at our current product portfolio.