'World's strongest material' under development at Nokia

After losing its title as world's leading mobile phone maker, Nokia may be taking on a new leadership role —this time, in developing what could be the world's strongest material.

 

Nokia said the European Union chose the Graphene Flagship Consortium, where it is a member, for the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) program - with an investment of 1 billion euros spread over the next 10 years.

 

"Measuring only one atom thick, graphene is classed as a 2D structure with super-useful properties. While thin, it’s also the strongest material ever tested, having a breaking strength 300 times greater than steel. Oh, and it’s also the lightest and best intrinsic conductor, too," it said.

 

In 2012, Nokia was dethroned by Korea-based Samsung as the world's top mobile phone maker.

 

The Graphene Flagship Consortium has 74 partners from the EU, from many different sectors. Nokia represents the electronics and mobile sectors.

 

Henry Tirri, Nokia's EVP and chief technical officer, said Nokia has deep roots in the field, having started working with graphene in 2006.

 

"Since then, we have come to identify multiple areas where this material can be applied in modern computing environments. We’ve done some very promising work so far, but I believe the greatest innovations have yet to be discovered,” Tirri said.

 

He added graphene is an area where Nokia in Europe has all the important players in the value chain who are ready to use it in applications.

 

Tapani Ryhänen, Head of the Sensor and Material Technologies Laboratory at Nokia, said that during the last 18 months, there has been a tremendous effort to build collaboration between European academia and industry.

 

"Now we have all the ingredients in place to be globally successful. We believe that new two-dimensional materials will have an impact on industrial value chains in many ways, creating opportunities for new products, services and economic growth,” Ryhänen said.

 

Citing figures compiled by UK-based patent consultancy CambridgeIP, Nokia said Asia and the US are leading in terms of the number of patent publications, though graphene was pioneered in Britain.

 

The EU consortium seeks to boost research opportunities and put the EU in the heart of development.

 

Implications

 

Jani Kivioja, research leader at Nokia Research Center, said graphene has wider implications, including creating work and jobs across Europe.

 

Kivioja added this research is also an investment to the people that live within the EU, from an economy perspective.

 

“Globalization has taken a lot of manufacturing out of the EU, whereas many countries still rely on industrial manufacturing. There is a huge opportunity to bring manufacturing back here, while using new materials and at the same time keeping manufacturing industries competitive,” Tapani added.

 

Nokia has also been working with nanotechnologies since 2006, mostly from the Nokia Research Centre in Cambridge, UK, and also with teams in Finland and Russia.

 

“When we talk about graphene, we’ve reached a tipping point. We’re now looking at the beginning of a graphene revolution. Before this point in time, we figured out a way to manufacture cheap iron that led to the Industrial Revolution. Then there was silicon. Now, it’s time for graphene,” Kivioja said.

 

Improving materials

 

But Ryhänen said people should notexpect to see everything made out of graphene. Instead, graphene is to improve existing materials and products.

 

“Really, this type of technology has radically improved the properties of many materials that can be used in our industry. It was discovered in the EU, and we’re very proud to have been involved from the very early years and now to be participating in the consortium. We have a very functional research team in place that can do world-class research with our partners," he said. — TJD, GMA News