[Magnetonium]

No surprises here. The first graphene-based product available to a consumer will likely be this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ma ... r-25016994

Bill Gates condom challenge 'to be met' by graphene scientists

afer condoms will be one of the first products developed at the new National Graphene Institute in Manchester.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded scientists $100,000 (£60,000) to create stronger, thinner condoms from the new "wonder material".

The substance will be mixed with latex to produce a material which will encourage use by "enhancing sensation".

Graphene, the thinnest, strongest material known, was first isolated at the University of Manchester in 2004.

It has more often been linked to potentially revolutionising products such as smartphones and broadband.

Its discovery won Manchester-based scientists Sir Andre Geim and Sir Kostya Novoselov the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010.
First 'everyday use'

The charity has offered the Grand Challenges Explorations grant to the Manchester research team to develop new composite materials for condoms, which it wants to make more desirable in order to increase global usage.

Dr Papa Salif Sow, senior program officer on the HIV team at the foundation, said a "redesigned condom that overcomes inconvenience, fumbling or perceived loss of pleasure would be a powerful weapon in the fight against poverty".

Dr Aravind Vijayaraghavan, who will lead the researchers, said that since it was isolated, "people have wondered when graphene will be used in our daily life".

"Currently, people imagine using graphene in mobile phone screens, food packaging and chemical sensors.

"If this project is successful, we might have [an everyday] use which will literally touch our everyday life in the most intimate way."

The National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester is being established with a £23m grant from the European Regional Development Fund.

The five-floor building is set to open in 2015, creating 100 jobs.

[Typhoon]

When I went to a conference a few years back in Manchester the place was full of Graphene related talks including the lab that first discovered it with electronics, bio-materials and sensor applications all being reported. Not once was the application for new polymer materials mentioned (especially for condoms) to my recollection.

Seems a bit of a joke for graphere to be honest, at least we can say that they truly have tried to apply it to everything.

It is a shame that its electronic properties are not being exploited like this, I wonder if it is because the large scale fabrication of graphene sheets of good size and quality is still quite difficult. Not to worry though if all the broken planes you create from trying can be turned into condoms!

[Magnetonium]

I heard that China has capitalized on the discovery of graphene by becoming the world's leader (by a margin) in graphene-related patents. They are trying to corner the market already. UK only has a handful of patents in comparison.

[Typhoon]

Yes by an order of magnitude it would appear:

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/informatics-graphene-2013.pdf

Samsung also seem to be spamming the graphene patent scene, we shall see what good comes of it.

[Thompson_NCL]

Why Britain doesn't have a big lead in this technology is beyond me. I think the problem is that in the UK, the links between research in University's and British business are perhaps not as good as they could be. Research in general needs more investment, and that should be coming from British business in particular.

[mikema63]

Were experimenting with using them in nano fiber silk wrappings to improve wound healing.

[Typhoon]

Why Britain doesn't have a big lead in this technology is beyond me.

Indeed its a huge missed opportunity, but then there are a lot of British innovations that we would not recognise these days because we failed to exploit them.

I think the problem is that in the UK, the links between research in University's and British business are perhaps not as good as they could be. Research in general needs more investment, and that should be coming from British business in particular.

I agree with this but then you have goverment pulling the plug on research and soon we will enter into the next ref session. So there is no desire to patent as research papers are faster to get a measurable result with than waiting for a patent to go through.