Graphene Flagship Projects

Dr Melanie Loveridge, Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG)Link opens in a new window

The University of Warwick was a beneficiary of a series of four Graphene Flagship projects: GrapheneCore1 through to Graphene Core3, and the currently ongoing 2D Experimental Pilot Line (2D-EPL). A major initiative worth a total of €1 billion over 10 years, the Graphene Flagship was funded by the EU to maintain Europe's lead in graphene research and innovation following the scientific breakthrough in isolating graphene at the University of Manchester.

Throughout the Graphene Flagship projects, Warwick was part of a consortium of over 170 academic and industrial partners from 23 countries, which had the purpose of bringing graphene innovation out of the lab and into commercial applications.16 new companies were spun off by project beneficiaries in areas ranging from photonics, medical technologies and materials productions leading to developing: electrodes for monitoring and stimulating brain activity, new types of batteries for electronics and automotive applications, faster and more energy-efficient communication systems and applications in the area of composite materials. The projects also led to 70 granted patents and a further 130 patent applications.

The work led by Dr Melanie Loveridge discovered and tested a new anode mixture of silicon and a form of chemically modified graphene which could potentially resolve existing issues in the use of silicon in lithium-ion batteries. Whilst silicon is abundantly available and preferable to graphite- which is the current default choice of active material for batteries- the performance issues of silicon have so far limited its commercial exploitation. Warwick's involvement in the series of Graphene Flagship projects could lead to viable silicon anode lithium-ion batteries, which could be manufactured on an industrial scale. In addition, the materials mixture could also significantly extend the life of lithium-ion batteries and offer increased power capability.