AMBER (Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research Centre), the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) funded materials science centre based at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), has announced that it has entered into a licence agreement with Thomas Swan Ltd for the production of atomically thin 2D layered materials.
The licences signed by TCD are for technologies developed by Professor Jonathan Coleman, principal investigator in AMBER and professor of chemical physics at TCD, which builds on his 2014 global research breakthrough into the large-scale production of graphene.
Capitalising on its experience in the manufacturing of graphene, Thomas Swan Ltd can now quickly scale the manufacturing of 2D materials, such as boron nitride and molybdenum disulphide, which will be available from this summer.
These materials have unique properties including strength, flexibility and electrical conductivity. Their production and incorporation into a range of products will change the way many consumer and industrial products are manufactured.
Extremely sensitive sensors for medical or chemical applications
Potential applications include high strength plastics; extremely sensitive sensors for medical or chemical applications; foldable touch screens for mobile phones and laptops; super-protective coatings for wind turbines and ships; faster batteries with dramatically higher capacity than anything available today and advanced food packaging.
Prof Coleman said: “Last year we signed a licence agreement with Thomas Swan Ltd to scale up production and make high quality graphene available to industry globally.
"While graphene consists of a layer of carbon atoms, other 2D materials comprised of different combinations of atoms also have unique properties with potential widespread applications from mechanics, to printed electronics, energy generation and storage. Our collaborative research programme with Thomas Swan underlines the strength of our industry engagement programme and we are delighted that our partnership has led to the commercialisation of my research."
“We are excited about this new phase in our 2D materials business which builds upon our graphene knowledge base,” said Harry Swan, managing director of Thomas Swan, “and we are delighted to be continuing our relationship with AMBER at Trinity College Dublin.”
Thomas Swan Ltd, which has partnered with the AMBER research team for two years has, to date, invested €750,000 in the research programme and began a further €250,000 collaboration in 2015, co-funded by SFI, to explore and develop future applications of 2D materials.