Milestone To Success

Graphene, as a 2-dimensional material, was first isolated in 2004 by Prof. Andre Geim and Prof Kostya Novoselov. It was the first time any scientist managed to extract it from graphite. Graphene has several properties far surpassing that of any other materials known to men, such as thermal conductivity and strength. It is also exceptionally electrically conductive, transparent and is only 1 atom thick. The pair of scientists extracted graphene from graphite using the ‘Scotch Tape Method’ during their weekly Friday night experiments. This breakthrough led to the Nobel Prize for Physics being awarded to them in 2010.

Our history starts in 2014 with the creation of the Industrial Development Laboratory (IDL) at the Centre for Advanced 2D Materials (CA2DM) at National University of Singapore (NUS), the first dedicated Centre towards graphene research in Asia, which was established under the leadership of Prof. Antonio Castro Neto and the scientific advice of Nobel Laureates in Physics for graphene – A.Geim and K. Novoselov.

The main objective of IDL was to develop graphene applications, such as composites, coating, lubricants, and batteries, under Dr. Ricardo Oliveira guidance. Initially, more than 200 grades of graphene were purchased from 70+ suppliers. These graphene samples were fully characterized, and no suitable graphene was found that be used in the research projects of IDL. Then, Prof. Antonio, Dr. Ricardo, and IDL team have created a method to produce its own graphene which is more cost-effective than all graphene production methods at that point and produces graphene with very high-quality. After validating the production method in the lab scale, 2DM was born.

The core technology was exclusively licenced from NUS and 2DM established its first pilot-scale production facility at Science Park II in 2017. During the first 2 years of operation, 2DM has worked in the validation and evolution of our core technology, and at the same time helping clients to try 2DM’s graphene in their applications.

In November 2019, 2DM has received an investment from CBMM and built its first industrial commercial plant in Tuas Singapore, with the guidance of Mr. Chen Chon Fook, a very experienced VP of Manufacturing. Our present production capacity is 12 tons per year.

Currently, our core technology is validated at industrial commercial scale, and the application development with clients are advancing steadily.

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