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[phoenixs] 13/6/2017 08:52

superg, aircraft engines can only be two really and I would go for Rolls Royce.

On the defence side, carbide most probably for armour protection or maybe even armour piercing. Whichever would be very good news.

[superg1] 13/6/2017 08:29

BTW while on that topic

Carbide recently got a part through for a non critical part for aircraft engines, one of the big names. They mentioned it on Cambridge day with first orders expected about September.

They also mentioned a new product for the defence sector for Carbide and had been paid for the first order. Also mentioned on the day at Cambridge. So Carbide is starting to diversify as they said out would.

A good start to be aircraft engines and defence Imo. It does make one wonder on the potential size of future orders and potential revenues involved in those two news sectors.

I think VRS did want to mention them officially but the Nomad said no I believe. I assume it will be dropped into other news.

[ali47fish] 13/6/2017 08:28

i am selling after this drift down in the sp- anyone has a cogent argument as to whether there might be a reversal soon- anyone please!

[superg1] 13/6/2017 08:24

Just read some of it.

They don't do graphene but will supply the graphite.

Surely that hype news for a graphite mine as the supply level will be small then look at the content itself. They talk of graphene enhanced composites and engine parts.

You have go to be kidding that will be 15-20 years off at best, so I take that news to be quite a bit of hype for the graphite mine which I'll look up. Anyone that knows the aerospace appreciates how long it takes to get anything into an aircraft. Critical parts would take a decade or more at least.




Graphene modified materials may provide polymeric composites suitable for use in long-term high temperature and high humidity stability applications, such as aircraft engine parts, with lower weight and enhanced mechanical properties. The project targets a 20% weight reduction in aircraft at the system level, making way for lightweight, highly thermal resistant and more durable composite components. The enhanced durability at high temperatures will increase the application of polymeric composite that can replace metal structures in the high temperature regions of aircraft. The improved mechanical properties and stability from less moisture uptake will also expand the use of products/components already made with composites in continuous operation where temperature is below 150°C.



S

[superg1] 13/6/2017 08:13

Shavian

I haven't had a good read but in general I don't like junior mining stocks. Mining teams tend to hype it up significantly with little cash in the bank for projects which often cost 100's of millions.

Then all too often hot topics are simply chased by such miners. I take it as chancers seeing an opportunity to make some money by screwing backers without ever getting to mine status.

Look at Lithium, I know that pretty well. Room for about 5 or 6 majors of which they are 3 majors already but over 100 lithium juniors have appeared 95% plus of which will fail.

When graphene first became known there was some hype about graphite miners. but it was also connected to batteries. The pecking order being Lump/Vein graphite, big flake then small flake. A good AIM example is Stratmin Global with their Madagascar big flake mine.

I had a quick look at graphite and quickly hit a piece which said 'There are many graphite mines moth-balled around the world". On that basis I warned about chasing graphite plays as if it took off then mines would simply open and knock graphite back. I think I read recently about closed mines in China. China is littered with graphite mines it seems.

I just looked up Stratmin global and int looks like they have switched to gold having gone from 60 to 1p on the share price for graphite and a £2 mill market cap.

So I take any graphite play now talking about graphene trying to add some hype to a mining sector which is flush with prospect with many mines closed.

I see one called Bluejay had just appeared on a hot topic just exploring and securing licences at the moment and it has a market cap of over £100 mill. I remember Scrutable mentioning that sector with Sierra rutile and Kemare (something like that). I'd have to look how those two have done as it was a hot topic previously.

When it comes to graphene as in the case of Talga you have to understand what works and what each player is taking about when they say graphene. EG Graphene nano platelets definition for Talga is 10-150 layers. Many layer is what VRS call a waste product. Waste because thy are looking at the top end for all performance gains. Perhaps they will identify a use for the waste at some point, One idea was to use it as a starting material for the ink production process.

[shavian] 13/6/2017 07:36

Good point Lucky

[luckyorange] 13/6/2017 00:20

Just £160k is my first thought Shavian, it won't go far and needs a sellotape moment. to put it into perspective Samsung et al have over $1 billion grant to play with and appear to be going nowhere at the moment- or that is the impression they give me.

[shavian] 12/6/2017 22:34

A coming together of two of my interests: canadian mining company Leading Edge Materials is into graphene:

Any views?

[luckyorange] 12/6/2017 16:42

I wish that I was clever enough to identify a graphene product that the world can't do without , anyone fancy a garage start up? They do well apparently ;-)

[superg1] 12/6/2017 14:22

It looks that way Cyber, besides all the churn of short term profit takers it could be Henderson post fund switch, could be Will Battrick as Lucky suggested. I see he hasn't moved onto anything else so he made need some cash re his family circs.

Before anyone asks I have no idea who is or isn't selling just guessing.

Looking like it's news driven for how or suitable entry points some have in mind.

There are plenty of options that could see it re-rate some obvious, some not so obvious and some virtually invisible.

Hence it's fine waiting for an entry point but they can't all buy at the same time and can't cater for the unknowns.

I'd say it's the same on all shares but I don't know of many with so many big names talking to them. I know the tech and product is viable and proven and I'm also well aware of what some of those names have done with others.

I waste too much time on these threads and as I'm in for far higher prices (if they come). I think the chances of them seeing significant interest is high after all the research. So if such interest appears so do the investors with a key inflexion point being fund investors not PIs, but for funds certain milestones and boxes have to be ticked.

The CFO plan is break even in 12 months but that has little to do with where the share price could be if so if any those names like Samsung, Sony, Inmarsat (twitter) and many other big names sign up. Just one would do for now but such things take time.

But then us PIs are all so often too blinkered on the wider picture. There have been enough hints.

[cyberbub] 12/6/2017 14:06

Someone still dumping...

[superg1] 12/6/2017 10:44

Lucky

I forgot to mention it the other day. There was mention of the work highest grade graphite mine. I don't know if many follow miners but generally that means highest yield per tonne.

EG The Letseng Diamond mine in Lesotho has the highest dollar per carat in the world but its the one of the lowest if not the lowest grade at 1.7 carats per 100 tonnes when many mines are 10 to 20 times that level and are known as high grade mines.

The one with the most carats per 100 tonnes is the highest grade mine.

So Letseng is the highest value per carat mine in the world but also the lowest grade.

But more relevant in this case is the term highest resource grade. Thats about the actual commodity in place, the bigger the number overall and up the scale you go re the size of the mine and the amount it could produce.

The key feature for any resource is ore cost v ore value. Costs to mine 1 tonne v the value gained in the commodity for 1 tonne.

With gold its obviously highly relevant as how many grams per tonne you have significantly moves the amount you get in returns.

When it comes to graphene from graphite it's not a key factor. It would be for graphite sales of which there are over a million tonnes per year but the world is stacked up with graphite resources with many closed mines. We have them it in the UK too but as yet not mined.

As you can see some talk about getting graphene from coal and the cost advantage of coal over graphite. However graphite is bulk terms of say £2000 per tonne works out at £2 per kg. Even if graphene was £1 per gram it's a £1000 return v a £2 raw product cost.

The maths simply doesn't work for it to be of any importance in the graphene world.

[superg1] 12/6/2017 10:06

Fujikura Kasei

Just been looking that lot as they are very much into conductive pastes via a brand DOTITE. They were in Berlin at the Idtechex event.

Our company has challenged innovative technological development as a chemical manufacturer and developed high value-added products including DOTITE, electrically conductive paste, since its foundation. We produce many products that are frontrunners in the market, and establish strong confidential relationships with customers based on our long track record and accumulated know-how.


No sign go them mentioning graphene as yet so it looks like one that may feature re graphene . Currently using metals from copper to gold.

[luckyorange] 11/6/2017 18:11

Graphene Composite Foams using Beer Yeasts has many electrical and mechanical applicationsbrian wang | June 11, 2017 | Inspired by natural foams, researchers have developed graphene-containing composite foams by fermenting with yeast. The process gives the multifunctional composites unusual electrical and mechanical properties

The use of graphene as an additive can give mechanical and electrical benefits to composite materials, making them multifunctional. In a novel fermentation method, Graphene Flagship researchers have developed graphene-containing rubber foams with unusual mechanical and electrical behaviors: when stretched, the composite foams expand and become more conductive. These unexpected properties could be promising for use in smart filters and medical devices.

Published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the research was performed by researchers at the University of Perugia, Italy and the University of Trento, Italy, in collaboration with Graphene Flagship partner Queen Mary University of London, UK. The graphene nanoplatelets used in the foams were produced by Graphene Flagship partner Nanesa, Italy.

The researchers investigated three types of silicon rubber and carbon composites, using graphene nanoplatelets, carbon nanotubes, and a mixture of both. Inspired by the natural formation of porous structures, the unusual composite foams were created by fermentation using beer yeasts. Carbon dioxide bubbles produced by the yeast during fermentation are trapped in the rubber as it gels, producing a porous foam. This method is promising for scalable production of composite foams in a fast and sustainable manner. “Compared to other methods, the preparation of foams by yeast fermentation has significant advantages, such as a rapid pore formation, inexpensive reagents and tuneable hierarchical morphology of the pores,” said Nicola Pugno (University of Trento and Queen Mary University of London), one of the authors of the paper.

Inspired by natural foams, researchers have developed graphene-containing composite foams by fermenting with yeast. The process gives the multifunctional composites unusual electrical and mechanical properties
Inspired by natural foams, researchers have developed graphene-containing composite foams by fermenting with yeast. The process gives the multifunctional composites unusual electrical and mechanical properties
Advanced Functional Materials – Graphene and Carbon Nanotube Auxetic Rubber Bionic Composites with Negative Variation of the Electrical Resistance and Comparison with Their Nonbionic Counterparts

Buckled pores

Typically, when an elastic material is stretched, it becomes longer in the stretched direction but thinner in the middle, like stretching a rubber band. Unusually, the graphene composites were found to expand widthways when stretched, due to the structure of the pores in the foam. The researchers showed that this so-called auxetic behaviour also made the composites more stretchable and damage resistant.

The unusual properties of the foam are due to the shape of the pores. The researchers found that the bubbles in the graphene composites were deformed and buckled with collapsed walls. When stretched, the pores expand to an unbuckled shape, leading to the expansion in all directions. The researchers suggested that this expansion also causes the increase in conductivity of the graphene foam under stretching, by bringing more of the conductive graphene nanoplatelets into alignment. These effects were specific to the yeast-formed composite foams; the non-yeast composites did not show the auxetic behavior or the decrease in resistance when stretched. “The increase of the electrical conductivity under stretching was most unexpected. Stretching such bionic auxetic composites foams could constitute an innovative approach to enhance their electrical and mechanical properties,” added Pugno.

Unexpected properties

The unexpected properties could be useful in a range of applications. Silicon rubber is often used in medical implants, due to its flexibility and biocompatibility. These their tuneable auxetic properties of these composite foams could find applications in medical devices, suggests Pugno. “These bionic composites could be used, for example, for manufacturing smart filters, so that when they are pulled their pores become larger. These could find application in drug delivery systems where the gradual release of the drug is controlled by the pulling force of the auxetic filter.”

“Researchers are always expected to use creativity and be inter-disciplinary, spanning in their work disciplines such as chemistry, material science, biology and physics,” said Vincenzo Palermo, of CNR, Italy. Palermo is the leader of the Graphene Flagship’s Polymer Composites Work Package. “This work merges together composites, graphene and the small organism which make beer; it is thus a very nice example of how Flagship scientists use imagination to create, day after day, new materials with original properties.”

Abstract

Microorganism metabolic activity can facilitate the formation of cellular material systems that have unusual mechanical and physical properties. In the living world microorganisms are commonly used for preparing porous food by fermentation; here carbon nanotubes, graphene nanoplatelets, and a mix of them are dispersed in liquid silicone rubber with single-cell fungi of commercial beer yeast. The fermentation of such microorganisms during the gelling of the silicone matrix results in bionic composites with buckled/collapsed cells that infer, as rationalized with an analytical model and excluded in a abiotic experimental comparison, auxetic properties. During stretching it is found that the Poisson’s ratio of such composites changes sign, from negative to positive, and the variation of the electrical resistance is negative. In addition to the conductivity increment, a general increment of the stretchability and damage resistance with respect to the composites prepared by abiotic process is observed. Bionic composites, even if in their infancy, can thus be multifunctional and superior to their traditional/abiotic counterparts.

[luckyorange] 10/6/2017 20:08

Absolutely incredible!

IBM crams 30 billion switches onto a chip the size of a fingernail
Using nanosheets, IBM has created transistors for a 5nm chip


By MATT BURGESS
Monday 5 June 2017

IBM is clearly not buying into the idea that Moore's Law is dead after it unveiled a tiny new transistor that could revolutionise the design, and size, of future devices.

Along with Samsung and Globalfoundries, the tech firm has created a 'breakthrough' semiconducting unit made using stacks of nanosheets. The companies say they intend to use the transistors on new five nanometer (nm) chips that feature 30 billion switches on an area the size of a fingernail. When fully developed, the new chip will help with artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing.


"For business and society to meet the demands of cognitive and cloud computing in the coming years, advancement in semiconductor technology is essential," said Arvind Krishna, senior vice president, Hybrid Cloud, and director, IBM Research.

IBM has been developing nanometer sheets for the past 10 years and combined stacks of these tiny sheets using a process called Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography to build the structure of the transistor.



"Using EUV lithography, the width of the nanosheets can be adjusted continuously, all within a single manufacturing process or chip design," IBM and the other firms said. This allows the transistors to be adjusted for the specific circuits they are to be used in.

Currently, the group says, the process used to create transistors (known (FinFET) is used to scale chips down to 5nm, but the process is far from efficient.

This latest work claims to be able to create 5nm chips "at a commercial scale". At present, 10nm chips are available and IBM says a 5nm chip will be able to "deliver 40 per cent performance enhancement at fixed power, or 75 per cent power savings at matched performance".

Previously, in 2015, IBM revealed how it was using carbon nanotubes to take computer processors beyond silicon. In that work, nanoscale tubes that are one atom thick were rolled from sheets of graphene.

[luckyorange] 10/6/2017 19:42

Have you watched this one superg?

Edit... interesting it's an interview with Jon Mabbitt but censored when I tried to post it.

[shavian] 10/6/2017 19:13

The Richard Mille/ MacLaren graphene watch was featured in a luxury watches supplement in today's Times. Graphene mentioned but no mention of Manchester, let alone where the graphene came from. We know better...;0)

[superg1] 09/6/2017 09:58

I would but he has such interest in every continent by so many well known big names I'm not sure he has the time.

He does try to drop big hints on occasions and I understand make the nomad uncomfortable occasionally .

Hence my posts about if nomads say no its not material news then why do they get twitchy of the CEO lets people know that often don't know they are being told.

If it isn't an RNS then he can surely talk about it openly. I can assure you that's not he view of a nomad and we know why.

I think the nomads call them grey areas until one of us finds public data and then magically an RNS is forced due to the panicking nomad.

It's part why I dig to get that public info and make the Nomad sweat.

I'm just about to ring one to make them sweat (not this share)

[luckyorange] 09/6/2017 09:42

Licencing deal Neill? Send Davis an email Superg :-)

[luckyorange] 09/6/2017 09:37

I said I wouldn't talk about politics, but graphene has become political in good old Roanoke :-)

'The reality is that coal is being killed today not by regulations but by Republicans’ favorite answer for everything — the free market. Utilities are moving away from coal because natural gas and even renewables are cheaper. Big industrial customers are pressing them to move even faster, for the same bottom-line reasons.

That’s where Davis, a delegate from Virginia Beach, cuts such an interesting figure. At last year’s annual Republican Advance (the party prefers not to call it a retreat), Davis sponsored a break-out session on coal. Instead of the usual twaddle about “bringing back coal,” Davis brought in two researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to talk about their research into graphene.

Graphene is “an allotrope of carbon in the form of a two-dimensional, atomic-scale, hexagonal lattice in which one atom forms each vertex.” Or, for the non-scientists among us, it’s a carbon-based compound with almost magical properties. Among them: It’s very thin, very strong and conducts electricity like nobody’s business. For computer chips, it could be even better than silicon.

Graphene was first observed in electron microscopes in 1962; most of the research into it has come in the past decade. Two British scientists won a Nobel Prize in 2010 for their work on graphene. Now two MIT scientists are working to figure out how to commercialize it for use in electronics, batteries and solar panels.

So where does graphene come from? Here’s the kicker: Graphene is best found in one particular rock that is incredibly complex, chemically speaking. It’s a rock that is also quite common in some parts of the country. We call it coal. Yes, powdered coal could replace silicon. Right now, this is mostly in the research phrase, but think of what that would mean for coal-mining regions if these MIT scientists could figure out the applications, and a business model.

Other candidates — on both sides — mostly offer bromides for the coalfields. Davis is the only one talking about graphene. This is the kind of out-of-the-box thinking we need more of. Other Republicans strangely discount or ignore science; here’s a Republican who embraces science.'



(relates to saving the coal industry as posted yesterday)

[superg1] 09/6/2017 09:37

NDAs

Some go on about sales and we know VRS are in many NDAs, around about 100 was stated and of those some are very big companies with the names known by those that attended Cambridge day. Tweets hint at some for those that didn't go.

Graphene is new, very few are going to say hell yes I'll stick it in my product, as they have no idea what it will do for them and their business. Some will have a problem graphene will fix, some see it as an enhancement gain and market advantage, others will see new products being viable on the back of it.

So an NDA would follow with talks, meetings and presentations to discuss what can be achieved for X Y or Z.

They they would need to know whether the graphene available will work for what they require re a fix/enhancement/new product.

Then what is the best combination as graphene doesn't just change strength is changes thermal and electrical conductivity and water resistance. Would electrical conductivity be an issue or desired, the same goes for thermal. You can remove electrical via graphene oxide I believe so there are options there.

Tests may follow to see what the best combination is for product X Y Z. Numbers will be crunched and if the customer wants to move forward sales, an MOU, JV etc may appear as news.

Now if the big names turn into any of that then no doubt sentiment would significantly shift.

The CEO tweets about new friends but also other names that some already know to be 'friends'.

Some of those mentioned have backed graphene in various forms in other companies and as Nanene is proven to work my bet is they will back VRS too either as a customer, taking a slice, license deal and various other options.

A few million is just insignificant loose change to those names but typically they won't ignore anything that they think has legs in an industry where there is a huge amount of commercial and competitor interest. A few £100k for kgs of Nanene is nothing to them.

So as I say I'm happy to be in this one and will wait to see what unfolds with an expectation of some significant interest as time goes on.

The key feature is the tech works in producing real graphene (full range of uses), It's proven to work, It's costs effective, it can be scaled to more or less any size be it 1 tonne, 100 tonnes or 1000's of tonnes, its just a modular numbers game. Then it's backed and supported by the world leading universities in graphene who are part owners on some aspects and shareholders of the main company.

[superg1] 09/6/2017 09:13

I believe I tend to swim in the opposite direction on sentiment. EG if you have sellers/ a supply then let them get on with it. If you are leaving you aren't an investor or supporter of the business. So my view let then trey and sell with lilt buy interest so they get the least possible return on exit.

Then the interested that perhaps are waiting to buy can get them cheaper but as always it's on timing, as if the a supply runs out the you can't get numbers without shifting the share price

I take the drift to be much like Anley states on profit taking and the unknown factor of the city boys like big gib doing a pump and dump as they quickly fell silent. I did cringe when the popped as they were doing the same on URU and others, I think EVRH was another one and it went over £100 mill on the M/C on promise.

The key factor is of course news driven volume. I have a long list on level 1 where they just drift until more news comes. A bit of action mourned news than back to all quiet again.

So we'll see what happens when either some material action comes either way be it news driven or something else, article, graphene news/BBC and so on.

[luckyorange] 09/6/2017 08:38

Not talking politics, now that's out of the way it's time to settle down and move on, some that sold will probably come back in now.

[jointer13] 08/6/2017 19:40

well he did say...

"all primed for international expansion"

that was maybe a couple of weeks ago

edit...12th may

[superg1] 08/6/2017 19:36

Not enough hours in the day is still the 'problem' for the CEO. Hopefully the right types applied for the CTO role.