The China Innovation Alliance of the Graphene Industry visits ICN2

The purpose of the alliance’s visit was to learn about graphene-related research at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and explore possibilities of collaboration among ICN2 and the CGIA Chinese Alliance.

The Catalan Institute of nanoscience and nanotechnology (ICN2) is working to establish a stable collaboration with institutions from China, an emerging actor in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. In this context, and previous to the Graphene 2016 Conference starting tomorrow in Genova (Italy), the China Innovation Alliance of the Graphene Industry (CGIA) visited today the ICN2 facilities and the clean room of the Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica (CNM-IMB-CSIC).

A delegation of 19 representatives from China interacted with local researchers. After a brief introduction from ICN2 and CGIA, a technology fair presented to the visitors some of the research developed with graphene in areas such as energy, biomedicine, sensors, and electronics. representatives from ICN2, Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI) and Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica (CNM-IMB-CSIC).

The CGIA is a consortium of Chinese companies, academic institutions, and research organizations that focus on the research and development of graphene and graphene-based products. Established in July 2013 with support from the Chinese government and the National Natural Science Foundation, CGIA is the world’s first association dedicated to the graphene industry in China. The alliance consists of committees for technology, quality assurance, patents, resources, industry promotion, and international cooperation. It is designed to provide opportunity to knowledge sharing and networking for those engaged in research and development, and deployment from Graphene based industries with investors across the globe.

Prof Pablo Ordejón, Director of ICN2, and Dr Yichun Li, CGIA director of Industry Promotion Committee, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a basis for collaboration between the Chinese alliance and the Barcelona Nanotechnology Cluster-Bellaterra located around the Autonomous University of Barcelona Bellaterra Campus. The main pobjective was to jointly promote the establishment of a bilateral Spain-China Framework for the development of Graphene Technologies, as well as other actions to promote bilateral networking and interchanges between research institutes and companies with activities in graphene technology development.