Austral Wright Metals - part of the Crane Group of Companies, is the result of the merger of two long established and well respected Australian owned metal distribution companies. Austral Bronze Crane Copper Ltd and Wright and Company Pty Ltd.
This merger has bought together Australia's leaders in the distribution of:
Aluminium - Coil, sheet, plate, tread plate etc
Copper, brass, bronze - Sheet, coil, extrusions and tube
Nickel and High Performance Alloys - Hollow and bar, sheet, plate in alloys such as Incoloy, Inconel and Monel
Stainless steel - sheet, coil, plate, flat, angle, round, tube, fittings, consumables
High Performance Materials including, titanium, duplex alloys, cobalt alloys, copper nickels, welding consumables and other high technology metals.
Graphene applications:
Telecommunications and electronics devices: Many patents have already been obtained for the use of graphene in manufacturing flexible, robust, touchscreen devices, such as mobile smartphones and wrist watches.
Supercapacitors: Power storage solutions such as batteries and capacitors have limits in size, power capacity and efficiency. Initial research indicates that laser-scribed graphene supercapacitors (with graphene being the most electronically conductive material known) offer power density comparable to that of high-power lithium-ion batteries that are in use today, and graphene supercapacitors are highly flexible, light, quick to charge, thin and not expensive to produce. Such electronic devices may be able to be charged within seconds and have hugely improved longevity.
Medical devices: Research is ongoing in the use of graphene for tissue engineering, bio-imaging, drug delivery, bio-microbiotics, and other devices.
Light processing: The use of graphene in optical modulators, ultraviolet lenses, infrared light detection, and photodetectors is being explored, especially since graphene is so thin it can be placed in handheld devices.
Sensors: Graphene does not oxidize in air or in biological fluids, making it an effective material for use in biosensors. Pressure, magnetic, and body motion sensors may also be environmentally-friendly and cost effective when made from graphene.
Paint: Graphene is highly inert and can act as a corrosion barrier, meaning that vehicles in the future could be virtually corrosion resistant.
Protective clothing and other applications requiring strength: Graphene is being viewed as a potential replacement for Kevlar in protective clothing. It is also being explored for vehicle manufacturing and possibly for building materials.
Water filtration: Graphene filters may significantly outperform other desalination methods. Graphene-based films that can filter dirty/salty water powered by the sun have been developed, and the film is light and can be manufactured at scale.
These and many other applications have revolutionized how scientists are using graphene
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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
In my early days I worked as an industrial chemist jointly for Austral Bronze and Metal Manufacturers in Maribynong Vic. This ingot looks old but does not ring any bells with me. I would think that it is too old to have anything to do with graphene (note spelling) as graphene is a very recent creation and is form of carbon. Graphine is possibly a trade name. As we had a foundry for brass and copper alloys we occasionally made small batches of master alloys in the in house blacksmiths shop for accurate addition of certain elements to batches of special alloys. Your sample may be for similar purposes. Is it heavy and metalic. The form of the A of the word austral is not what I remember of the trade name so maybe it predates my time at the company.
I worked at the Alexandria factory with frequent visits to the one at Concord for 5 years up to about 1975 and there weren't many places I didn't get into (as electrical engineer) and that product doesn't ring any bells
Thanks so far,
I could not post this bit before. It is a non ferrous metal, 968 grams for the small block. The ' broken end" looks porous, but I polished a bit of that end and it came up pretty shiny and smooth. Looks a bit like a bar off a Velvet Soap strip, if you are old enough to remember that yellow stuff.
The item came in a box of bibs and bobs from my Dad's saved stuff. He was a crayfisherman for over 50 years, so maybe a sacrificial anode for his boat prop, except that there are no mounting holes. Sometimes they made lead weights for nets by using a hand held melting pot, long handle over a fire. Maybe an additive for the lead?. Every Google now refers to wonder substance " Graphene ", not my Graphine. I worked in plumbing supplies in 1980's and Austral Bronze were a supplier of some bits. Apparently folded into Crane Metals after early days of being part of Metal Manufactures.
Looks like it could be ZINC, did some high school calculations to get the volume ( thanks google) and also measured the amount of water it displaced in a jug, then compare to published weight of Zinc and pretty close. Dont have any muriatic acid to triple check.
