News & Intelligence

Terrance Barkan of the Advanced Carbons Council and Dr. Andrew Pollard of the UK's National Physical Laboratory discussed how measurement science, standardization, and materials verification underpin the commercialization of graphene and other advanced carbon materials. For the sector, the conversation highlights that without validated characterization methods and traceable measurement standards, reproducible manufacturing and scalable deployment of carbon nanomaterials — including graphene, carbon nanotubes, and emerging MXenes — remain unachievable.

The Advanced Carbons Council published a position paper in May 2026 arguing that carbon credit financing should be redirected from geological carbon capture and sequestration toward conversion of captured carbon into advanced materials such as graphene, carbon fiber, biochar, and carbon nanotubes. The paper contends that carbon-to-materials conversion projects are commercially self-sustaining without ongoing subsidies, unlike CCS, and deliver compounding lifecycle emissions reductions across sectors including construction, aerospace, agriculture, and energy storage.

The Advanced Carbons Council published an overview of graphene and other advanced carbon materials being adopted in construction, citing applications in concrete (Concretene, First Graphene, Versarien), asphalt, and corrosion-resistant coatings (Petronas). These developments indicate growing commercial deployment of graphene additives in construction materials, with documented performance gains in compressive strength, road durability, and steel protection at low material loadings.

The Advanced Carbons Council highlights graphene and related carbon materials being adopted in construction applications including concrete additives (Concretene, First Graphene), graphene-reinforced 3D-printed components (Versarien), asphalt modification, and corrosion-resistant coatings (Petronas). For the advanced carbon materials sector, construction has emerged as a leading commercial deployment area, with multiple suppliers demonstrating validated, scalable products that improve strength, durability, and emissions performance without requiring major process changes.

Terrance Barkan of The Graphene Council published a framework mapping the commercialization maturity journey of graphene through stages from discovery to mature commercialization, identifying nine recurring obstacles including capital access, regulation, standardization, and value chain complexity. The framework positions graphene as approaching proven commercial viability in multiple application areas—including composites, construction materials, and thermal management—while arguing that its "killer application" lies in broad adoption as a performance-enhancing additive across sectors rather than in any single use case.