Optimized exfoliation of Canadian natural graphite from the Albany deposit for production of thermally conducting graphene-based laminates

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Research is required to optimize the exfoliation of high-quality Canadian natural graphite from the recentlydiscovered hydrothermal deposit in Albany, Northwestern Ontario, with special emphasis to its thermalproperties. The exceptional quality of this deposit makes its products uniquely suited for markets at high addedvalue, in which high crystallinity and low defectiveness of graphite are critical. Using massively availablenatural graphite will lead to significant impact in terms of quality-cost optimization in a number of graphiteproducts, including batteries, thermal pastes, and heat spreaders because, so far, many of such markets haveonly been reserved to synthetically produced graphitic materials. Zenyatta Ventures Ltd, the company that hasbeen developing the Albany deposit, has determined that the market penetration of several products will bedramatically enhanced if their graphite is exfoliated into graphene platelets. Specifically, platelets of graphene(a single-layer of carbon atoms) and few-layer graphene (2-10 layers of carbon atoms) possess a thermalconductivity that is significantly higher than thick graphitic stacks. In this project, Zenyatta will work inpartnership with the team of Prof. Fanchini, Canada Research Chair in Carbon based nanomaterials at WesternUniversity, an academic researchers experienced in graphene laminates and their thermal properties. Theshort-term objective is to gain insight into, and to optimize, the structure-thermal performance relationship ingraphene-based platelets exfoliated from Albany graphite. Long-term objective of the project is to demonstrate,using natural graphite, thermal conductivities >2 10+2 W/m/K, approaching or exceeding those of state-of-theart metallic heat spreaders. If successful, the project will dramatically enhance the marketability of Albanygraphite, which, on its turn will lead to a significant increase in occupational and economic perspectives for aremote area in Northwestern Ontario, in which such development is much needed.