GRAPHERGIA at Graphene Week 2026: From Smart Textiles to Space Energy Storage

Once again, we are delighted to announce that GRAPHERGIA will be participating in Graphene Week 2026, marking our third consecutive year at this leading event for the graphene and 2D materials community, organised by the Graphene Flagship, from 21-25 September at the Super Bock Convention Center in Porto, Portugal.

GRAPHERGIA’s programme will include a workshop co-organised with the ARMS project, an oral presentation, three poster presentations, and an exhibition featuring two of the project’s key demonstrators.

GRAPHERGIA and ARMS Workshop: Graphene Technologies for Smart Textiles, Wearable Electronics and Supercapacitors

On Thursday, 24 September, from 16:05 to 18:20, GRAPHERGIA and ARMS will co-host the workshop “Scalable Graphene Technologies for Smart Textiles, Wearable Electronics and Next-Generation Supercapacitors” in the Auditorium.

As EU-funded initiatives within the Graphene Flagship ecosystem, the two projects address complementary aspects of graphene-enabled energy innovation. GRAPHERGIA focuses on sustainable pilot lines for flexible and structural energy-harvesting and storage devices, including smart textile platforms, while ARMS develops eco-friendly micro-flexible and structural supercapacitors based on graphene-rich and graphene-decorated materials, supported by scalable atomic layer deposition technologies. Together, the workshop will showcase how graphene and related materials are enabling energy-autonomous systems through the convergence of advanced materials, scalable manufacturing, and application-driven device integration.

The session is chaired by Spyros Yannopoulos, Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Patras, collaborating Research Director at FORTH/ICE-HT, and GRAPHERGIA Coordinator, and Hamed Pourkheirollah, Post-Doc Researcher and Project Manager at Tampere University and partner in the ARMS project. The plenary talk will be delivered by Dr. Sheng Dai, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA.

The workshop programme will cover the following topics:

• 16:05 – 16:45: Plenary talk. Sheng Dai, Professor of Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1600, USA. “Unconventional Carbon Processing”.
• 16:45 – 17:10: Spyros Yannopoulos, Research Director at Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH) and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Patras, Greece. “Laser-Enabled Graphene Integration for Flexible Electronics and Energy Storage”.
• 17:10 – 17:35: Hamed Pourkheirollah, Researcher at Tampere University (TAU), Finland. “Atomic Layer Deposition of Metal Oxides on Porous Carbon Electrodes for High-Performance Supercapacitors”.
• 17:35 – 17:55: Apurba Ray, Research Scientist at German Aerospace Center (DLR e.V.), Cologne, Germany. “Powering the Future with Graphene: High Performance, Flexible Laser-Induced Graphene and Ionic Liquid Gel Electrolyte Micro-Supercapacitors for Wearable Electronics”.
• 17:55 – 18:15: Komal Gola, Researcher at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. “Surface Growth of Porous rGO:MXene Composite Electrodes on Carbon Fibers for Structural Supercapacitors”.
• 18:15 – 18:20: Discussion.

Read the document below to discover all the details about the workshop:

GRAPHERGIA Research on Display

Our innovators will deliver an oral presentation and present three posters highlighting GRAPHERGIA’s research.

Robust Flexible Micro-Supercapacitors: Integrating High-Voltage Gel Polymer Electrolyte with Laser-Induced Graphene

• Session 6. Flexible, Printed & Wearable Electronics.
• 22 September 2026 from 16:05 to 17:40.
• Room 1.

Apurba Ray, Research Scientist at German Aerospace Center (DLR e.V.) will speak about powering the future of wearable technology from 16:40 to 16:55. He will explain that GRAPHERGIA’s researchers are addressing key limitations of conventional flexible energy-storage technologies by developing flexible micro-supercapacitors (FMSCs).

By pairing highly porous laser-induced graphene (LIG) electrodes with high-voltage ionic liquid gel electrolytes (ionogels), this innovation solves major industry hurdles, including: zero leakage and non-flammable that eliminates the hazards of traditional liquid electrolytes; high performance that delivers higher energy density, superior voltage windows, and exceptional cycling stability; and smart integration that allows highly scalable and custom-built for seamless integration into smart textiles and aerospace applications. When integrated with triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) and innovative power management circuits, these micro-supercapacitors harvest energy from human motion and ambient mechanical interactions to enable battery-less, on-demand charging for wearable sensors. This breakthrough marks a major shift from bulky, standalone batteries to multi-functional, wearable energy reservoirs.

Laser-Assisted Continuous and Patterned Graphene-on-Textile Electrodes for Energy Harvesting and Micro-Flexible Energy Storage

• Poster Session A. Poster number PA33.
• 22 September 2026 from 17:45 to 19:30.
• Auditorium.

Markos Anagnostakos, Master’s Student at FORTH, will present the poster “Laser-Assisted Continuous and Patterned Graphene-on-Textile Electrodes for Energy Harvesting and Micro-Flexible Energy Storage”, co-authored by Spyros Yannopoulos.

This poster presents GRAPHERGIA’s scalable strategy for integrating energy-harvesting and energy-storage functionalities directly into textile platforms for wearable and self-powered electronics. We are developing a laser-assisted route for converting graphene-oxide-coated polyester textiles into conductive graphene-based architectures that serve two complementary functions: continuous conductive tracks as current collectors/electrodes for triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), and laser-patterned interdigitated electrodes for micro-flexible supercapacitors (mfSCs). A central challenge in GRAPHERGIA is the optimal coupling of energy-harvesting and energy-storage units to realise an all-in-one self-charging textile compatible with IoT integration.

Graphene based Triboelectric Nanogenerators in Aerospace Structures for Real Time Mechanical Monitoring

• Poster Session A. 
• 22 September 2026 from 17:45 to 19:30.
• Auditorium.

Industrial-Scale Laser-Modification of Graphene and Graphitic Anodes for High-Capacity and Fast-Charging in Lithium-ion Battery Cells

• Poster Session B. Poster number PB29.
• 23 September 2026 from 17:45 to 19:30.
• Exhibition.

This work, by Konstantinos Mylonas, Junior Materials and Processing Engineer at Pleione Energy, presents a scalable laser-processing method to engineer electrode surface unlocking fast charging. The resulting surface modified electrode delivers high specific capacities of 450–500 mAh/g and integrates seamlessly with roll-to-roll manufacturing for high-rate e-mobility and aerospace battery applications.

GRAPHERGIA Demo Cases Exhibition

On 22, 23 and 24 September, our partners will present two of our demo cases in the exhibition area: ‘All-in-one self-charging textile capable of energy harvesting and storage’ and ‘Advanced graphene-based LIB module prototype for space applications’.

Michael Schneider, CEO at Born Knitting Engineers, will showcase a smart textile demonstrator for self-powered smart garments. The demonstrator will illustrate the path towards integrating textile-based energy harvesting, energy storage and sensing technologies developed within the project, highlighting how different functional subsystems can be incorporated into a wearable platform. Supporting smart textile samples will highlight the underlying material technologies and manufacturing approaches. Together, the garment demonstrator and textile samples will present a route towards energy-autonomous wearable systems with reduced dependence on conventional batteries, targeting applications in health and well-being, sports, defence and IoT-connected environments. The exhibition will feature one mannequin displaying a shirt-sized garment, along with a small surface area for supporting textile samples.

Konstantinos Mylonas, from Pleione Energy, will present an advanced lithium-ion battery (LIB) module demonstrator for small satellite and CubeSat applications. Its ultimate goal is to integrate the graphene-based cells developed within GRAPHERGIA, showcasing the benefits of graphene-enabled and laser assisted electrode technologies for space energy storage systems. To support the development and validation of the module architecture, a prototype based on commercial lithium-ion cells is being used as a representative platform.

The module is designed and optimised to deliver high power while maintaining reliable operation over a wide temperature range. These characteristics are particularly important for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions, where satellites experience multiple eclipse periods per day and must rely on battery power while operating under challenging thermal conditions. Graphene offers key advantages for these applications, including high electrical conductivity, low weight, enhanced mechanical stability, and improved charge transport properties. These qualities can contribute to higher performance, longer cycle life and increased reliability compared to conventional battery technologies. The battery module is expected to have approximate dimensions of 15 cm × 10–12 cm × 10–12 cm (L × W × H).

Thank you to the Graphene Flagship for bringing together the latest innovations in graphene and 2D materials during the Graphene Week 2026!

See you in Porto!