Cyrene, a bio-based solvent, made from cellulose and produced by biotechnology company Circa Group, has been found to outperform traditional, toxic solvents in the production and dispersion of graphene.
The University of York and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC Madrid) reported that Cyrene had “near-ideal physical properties for graphite exfoliation and the production of graphene dispersions.”
Following this, the University of Manchester has now successfully produced the highest quality conductive graphene ink ever reported using Cyrene instead of NMP.
Circa Group
Circa believes these findings have far-reaching commercial applications and open multi-million-euro market opportunities for graphene in applications such as advanced composites and polymers, coatings, batteries, 3D printed materials and functional fluids.
More specifically, graphene inks can directly be applied to materials like textile and paper and used in many applications including transistors, sensors, antennas, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and wearable electronics.
“Graphene production and dispersion is one of the many applications Circa is targeting for Cyrene, which is outperforming traditional solvents in many high-value market applications such as the manufacture of specialty polymers and formulations of different kinds,” said: Fabien Deswarte, Business Development Manager at Circa Group.
“For Circa and other companies looking for high-performance, non-toxic, sustainably-produced solvents – it’s a win-win-win situation.”