THE GRAPHENE RACE
SPECIAL REPORT
Innovation in Malaysian made grapheneenhanced products will be a game changer in
the country’s economic growth prospects. It is
a tight race as many countries are also pursuing
the same path.
I
t is the age enhancement with graphene in lithium-ion battery
of disruptive anodes and flexible displays, and specialty plastic
t e c h n o l o g y . and rubber composites.
What makes graphene such an amazing
In the area of
nanomaterials, material?
●●
di s r up t i o n i s
It is 200 times stronger than steel, yet
expected from
incredibly lightweight and flexible.
●●
graphene,
a
It is electrically and thermally conductive
single atomic
but also transparent.
●●
layer of carbon
It is the world's first 2D material and is one
which
can
million times smaller than the diameter of a
change
the
single human hair.
performance and efficiency of many consumer
Globally, graphene-related research and
products. Billed as the “wonder material of the commercial innovation has been pursued by many
21 st century”, graphene can lead to stretchable countries. The UK, US, China, Australia, Germany
National Graphene Action Plan 2020 15
mobile phones, high definition televisions as thin and Canada have allocated huge sums of money
as paper and 10 times more energy storage in to build graphene hubs. Malaysia too has entered
lithium-ion batteries for electric cars. Companies the graphene race as it wants to inject new value
EXHIBIT 6
like Samsung, Bayer MaterialScience, BASF into existing industries and expand into new
and Siemens are currently exploring product growth areas.
Many governments globally are making significant investments into
developing Graphene hubs
National commitments to Graphene research
EU
USA
Japan
$1.3B over
10 years
$50M+/year
Undisclosed
National
Funding
# of patent
applications
170
1500
500
China
Undisclosed
National
Funding
1160
S. Korea
Singapore1
~$300M over $32M
10 years
(potential)
800
20
1 Disclosed direct spend on Graphene, for prototyping and rapid development, additional funding channels available, but
are not Graphene specific
SOURCE: Press releases, European Commission, USAF, US NSF/DOE, Expert interviews
Commitments to graphene research by country
Similar to these early adopters, Malaysia has to decide whether and how much to invest in its
| 7
Graphene capabilities. Based on Malaysia’s scale and its aspirations to become a developed
nation by 2020, the Malaysian government will adopt a downstream-focused approach, with
the aim of fostering concrete commercial benefits across key industries. Therefore, this action
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