Graphene Flagship Experts Unfold the Complexity of Now and Beyond

​Judging by the content of the conference NanotechItaly2015, that was held in Bologna, Italy in late November, it was again clear that graphene is of great interest for future innovations. No less than ten Graphene Flagship experts contributed with key presentations, as well as a plenary talk by Dr Luigi Colombo, member of the flagship's Strategic Advisory Council.

The focus of the three-day programme was science with and for society and the development of key technologies to meet future demands with safe innovations. It included six sessions stretching from healthcare to aerospace, with one of them dedicated to materials and graphene based innovation.

"The graphene community is very strong and still evolving as graphene and related two-dimensional materials are being applied in more research fields, from biomedicine to security applications", says Dr Vincenzo Palermo, Work Package Leader for Nanocomposites, who was one of the speakers from the Graphene Flagship.

The session on materials and graphene based innovation included 19 speakers, which of ten were from the flagship.

"Organising sessions dedicated to graphene is an effective way to ensure knowledge exchange, and to disseminate results coming out of the Graphene Flagship in different application fields. This also ensures that we keep our community open to new ideas, and receive feedback coming from different point of views", adds Palermo.

Looking ahead to 2016

In the next coming months, the Graphene Flagship takes another step in this direction by participating in the Mobile World Congress, 22-25 February 2016, in Barcelona, Spain. The flagship along with over 12 companies will introduce a Graphene Innovation Zone (Graphene Pavilion) to display graphene in mobile related applications by on-site prototypes and demonstrators.

In parallel with the innovation zone, a plenary session consisting of speakers from academia and industry will take place on Thursday 25 February. The plenary session alongside with the innovation zone aims to illustrate how graphene and related two-dimensional materials can be used in the mobile sector.