Company applauded for promotion of UK graphene capabilities

With support from the NanoKTN and JEMI, plus £90,000 of funding from the Technology Strategy Board, Moorfield produced the nanoCVD which delivers graphene capability into a lab or company very quickly for research projects. The product was developed using a Technology Strategy Board ‘Proof of Concept’ award which is specifically designed to allow companies to cross the ‘valley of death’ from initial idea to commercial product. It is part of the SMART award scheme and is open to groups and individual companies needing small levels of support.

Dr Jon Edgeworth, Product Manager at Moorfield Ltd explains, “We’re delighted with the interest in our graphene technology and products. Working with the Technology Strategy Board, NanoKTN, JEMI and IDB Technologies, we have been able to demonstrate the strength of UK graphene expertise and in particular how our nanoCVD system can enable companies to manufacture graphene themselves, quickly, easily and in a cost-effective and repeatable manner.”

Dr James Johnstone, Theme Manager at the NanoKTN added, “Graphene is set to revolutionise the electronics and structural materials worlds in the next 20 years with UK and International manufacturers looking to develop new devices and components needing to be developed with great manufacturing repeatability to ensure commercial success. We’re delighted that a UK graphene company has been able to convert graphene expertise into a viable commercial success.”

The Moorfield nanoCVD system is also being used by Prof. Monica Craciun at Exeter University to deliver a significant rise in productivity in the research of her group and of the EPSRC Exeter-Bath Centre for Graphene Science, as she explains, “Typically graphene films used to take 8 hours to produce but using Moorfield’s nanoCVD system, we have been able to reduce this to about 30 minutes and on substrates which are around 1-4 cm2.”

Graphene and CNTs have been the focus of huge research efforts, given their unique electrical, mechanical and structural properties. Thanks to these properties, their introduction is expected to prove disruptive for a huge range of applications. In addition, exotic characteristics of these materials mean they will enable new types of devices and products.