IP Group plc (IPO.L), the developer of intellectual property based businesses, reported extending its commercialisation agreement with The University of Manchester via. its technology transfer company, UMI3 Ltd, to include Proof-of-Principle or "PoP" funding for graphene projects. In addition, the Group said it plans to commit a further 2.5 million pounds of funding, bringing the total to 7.5 million pounds, as per the revised terms of the agreement which has also been extended to 2019. The Capital Raising is due to complete on February 14, 2014.
Sir Kostya Novoselov and Sir Andre Geim first isolated graphene at The University of Manchester in 2004 and their ground-breaking experiments on the material earned themthe Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010.
Also, the University is the home of the National Graphene Institute or NGI. The 61 million pounds, 7,600 square metre building, that is due to open next year, would house state-of-the-art facilities. Funding for the NGI would come from the Government, as part of 50 million pounds allocated for graphene research, and from the European Research and Development Fund.
Graphene, a two dimensional material consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb or chicken wire structure, is the thinnest material known and yet also one of the strongest, the company noted.
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