8
nanotimes Companies
11-10 :: October 2011
Interview – Graphene Laboratories Inc.
I
n November 2011, U.S. high-tech start-up com- pany Graphene Laboratories Inc. announced the
major expansion of its large-scale graphene coatings product line. Starting November 10th, 2011, the online store Graphene Supermarket®
, operated by
Graphene Laboratories, began to offer single layer graphene deposited to a variety of insulating sub- strates, including silicon wafers with an oxide layer, glass, and transparent plastics. Along with this comes the ability to customize coatings to meet customer needs, and create films as large as 4”x8”.
Graphene is a novel material to be used in electro- nics, solar cells, and bio/chemical detector appli- cations. The new line of materials sold through the Graphene Supermarket®
is prepared by chemical
vapor deposition (CVD), which is the most promising method for the commercial production of continuous graphene. Graphene Laboratories was founded by a group of experts in the field of nanomaterials, who possess extensive experience in characterization of structural and electronic properties of graphene and deep fundamental and practical knowledge of processing graphene-based materials. Recently, we spoke with Dr. Elena Polyakova, CEO of Graphene Laborato- ries, Inc., about her company, products and future strategy.
? Your company is offering graphene products and prototype development. What does it mean for the customer, what can a new customer expect?
! Dr. Elena Polyakova: “Graphene Laboratories Inc. has quickly become one of the key players in gra- phene materials because of our distinctive business model. We not only manage and operate Graphene Supermarket, but we also provide analytical services and are involved in a plethora of R&D projects. We have experts who have a lot of experience in carbon material growth, handling and characteriza- tion, as well as owning the equipment on hand to do tests and R&D in-house. Our competitive advantage is our ability to support customers. There are a few other companies that may supply the graphene, how- ever customer support is not a focus of theirs, and we are able to provide that by maintaining a staff of competent researchers to answer any questions.
We have a very unique approach to sales and mar- keting, we always are trying to find solutions to the customer’s problem rather than just selling a material. Often times speaking with a member of a marketing department is difficult because they are not necessarily professionals in what they are selling, rather how to sell it. Instead, we have our scientists and researchers giving customer support. We stron-