CPI to Establish Graphene Applications Innovation Centre

The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has been named as the home of a new £14 million Graphene Applications Innovation Centre. The new center will build on existing capabilities and will open later this year to provide facilities and expertise to help companies to develop, prove, prototype and scale up grapheme-based products and processes.

“Graphene is a very interesting material with great promise,” Nigel Perry, CEO of CPI said. “The new center will work alongside academic organizations such as the National Graphene Institute, graphene manufacturers and end users, to develop and prove commercial applications for a range of major industries. The new center will integrate with existing development facilities at CPI’s printable electronics and formulation centers based at Sedgefield, Co. Durham.”

“The UK has a strong position in the fundamental science of graphene and the new centre will increase the focus on exploring potential applications via the scale up of manufacturing processes for both material and products.
“If the UK is to create economic benefit from graphene it will require a concerted effort to become closer to market by proving that processes work at an industrial scale.”

Graphene, first isolated at the University of Manchester in 2004, is tipped to transform many products. Its electrical and thermal conductivity, optical purity and mechanical strength could be used in high-capacity batteries, flexible screens, ultra-fast transistors and other electronic components, super-bright lasers and materials from sports equipment to aircraft wings.

CPI has been awarded the center due to its existing activities in the development and scale up of new products and processes, as well as its current work with graphene technologies and formulation.