Is the UK falling behind in the race to commercialise graphene?
1 min read
Graphene was unveiled only a few years ago as a wonder material that would apparently provide a solution to most of the world's growing technology challenges. In particular, it was seen as the saviour of the electronics industry; a material that would provide the means for chip developers to break through the wall set to stall the progress of Moore's Law.
Such was the perceived importance of the discovery, by Professors Novosolev and Geim at Manchester University, that it not only merited the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics, but also Knighthoods for the academics.
Once the news was out, it heralded the start of something akin to a gold rush as researchers around the world started to look for ways to use the material. The UK Government, looking to exploit the country's lead, established the National Graphene Institute (NGI), backed with some £60million of cash. The idea was for the NGI to be the world's leading centre for graphene research.
And yet a report published by CambridgeIP says the UK has just 54 patent publications around the technology, compared to some 2200 from Chinese companies and 1750 from those in the US. Amongst companies, Samsung is said to have more than 400 patents, closely followed by IBM.
Graphene research institutes have been set up around the world: some in their own buildings; some as coordination centres for work going on elsewhere. An example of the former is in Singapore, while MIT in the US is coordinating the graphene research activities in 15 of its departments. The NGI will house researchers and coordinate other research, but it will not open until 2015.
Because there are many potential applications for graphene, there should be many commercial opportunities. But whether it's deserved or not, the UK has a reputation of being good at basic research, but not at commercialisation. Will graphene be another example?
