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Success stories Morgan Advanced Materials joined forces with The University of Manchester – where graphene was first isolated a decade ago – to explore the potential of the material, with a full-time team based at the National Graphene Institute (NGI). Morgan was one of the Institute's first industrial partners. The project's early work focused on scaling up Manchester's patented technology to produce graphene. This process sees molecules driven between the layers of a graphite electrode to separate them. Advances in this area enabled greater flexibility of the process, controlling properties such as flake size and thickness while also allowing the inclusion of other attributes, via in-situ functionalisation, to meet precise specifications depending on exact application needs. Dr Mike Murray, Chief Technology Officer of Morgan Advanced Materials, commented: "With its unique combination of properties - lightweight, chemical inertness, and large surface area- the potential industrial applications of graphene are enormous, but much depends on finding the most viable and cost-effective method of manufacture. "As a global leader in the development and practical application of proprietary materials, Morgan is ideally placed to lead this process in conjunction with the NGI. We have committed a full-time team to be based at the NGI and are delighted with the results to date, which indicate the very real possibility of manufacturing larger graphene layers, able to be adapted for a range of requirements." James Baker, CEO Graphene@Manchester, added: "We are already seeing great results from this exciting partnership and collaboration between NGI and Morgan Advanced Materials. This demonstrates the benefits of co-locating industry engineering and academic research teams to accelerate the commercialisation of graphene material and its applications." Morgan Advanced Materials @ Graphene Manchester

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