Graphene pioneers – a material for the future
Everything at 2HS, the Schaffhausen-based start-up, revolves around a material that may seem inconspicuous at first glance but has the potential to transform technologies: Graphene.
Why Graphene?
The intrinsic tensile strength of graphene is nearly 200 times stronger than steel. What’s more, it is lightweight, flexible, and an excellent electrical conductor. Graphene’s honeycomb lattice structure and its one-atom thickness provide a combination of electronic, chemical, mechanical & optical properties, that enable numerous applications with improved detection sensitivity while consuming relatively lower energy.
The story of graphene is still relatively young. It was only in 2004 that physicists succeeded in isolating and characterizing single-layer, one-atom thick graphene film for the first time. Since then, global interest in graphene has substantially grown within research & commercialization circles.
This has been true for Kishan Thodkar. His enthusiasm for graphene began in 2012 during his Master’s thesis at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. Later, his interest in graphene continued during his PhD in experimental physics at University of Basel. During his PhD (2013-2017), he deepened his knowledge and developed valuable expertise in graphene production and applications. In 2016, initial ideas for industrial applications using graphene started to take shape. After his PhD, five additional years of post-doctoral research followed. First, at the renowned BioMedX Innovation Center in Heidelberg and then at ETH Zurich. At ETH Zurich he received the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship as recognition for his previous works in graphene and for his focus on industrial solutions. This period was decisive: Laying the technological foundations of Schaffhausen start-up 2HS.
Why Schaffhausen?
Thodkar and Kempf founded their company – an ETH spin-off – in 2023 in Schaffhausen, despite having traveled extensively across Europe and grown up on two different continents.
“The Economic Promotion Agency convinced us of the location. We realized Schaffhausen offers exactly what we need”.
2HS sets an ambitious goal: Industrializing graphene applications. 2HS aims to pave and contribute to the new era in semiconductor technology. Although graphene has been extensively researched, its industrialization is in its early phase. 2HS wants to support graphene’s industrialization – with an innovative approach that combines science and entrepreneurship.
The First “Product”
Shortly after its founding, 2HS launched the platform “one-graphene®”. Their platform provides access to best-in-class, single-crystalline CVD graphene films and customized graphene integration solutions – for applications in sensors, flexible electronics, or medical diagnostics.
What makes it special?
2HS functions as top tier raw material supplier and as a product development partner. Their unique customer-first approach is driven by Dr. Thodkar’s background spanning a decade of research and development expertise in graphene nanoelectronics & Mr. Kempf’s operational prowess. This expertise directly shaped the start-up’s first innovative product catering to customers facing challenges in access to top-tier graphene and its integration challenges. Their product enables reproducible graphene integration processes, which is critical for application development – a step that was previously complex and error-prone. “We make production not only more efficient but also scalable,” explains Mr. Kempf.
“We realized Schaffhausen offers exactly what we need. The canton’s openness to innovative technologies played a role, as did the industrial network and access to skilled professionals. Proximity to the economic hubs of Zurich and Munich was another factor”.
Major Milestones for 2HS
Despite its short history, 2HS has achieved remarkable success: 2HS was accepted into the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC) Switzerland. The funding of up to €200,000 over two years underscores the potential for graphene technologies and demanding applications. Furthermore, 2HS is supported by the European Space Deep Tech Initiative (ESDI), in collaboration with METAS, the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology.
Outlook
2HS is still young but has already come a long way – and the journey continues: The startup continues to focus in enabling the next major product innovation led by Dr. Thodkar. With it, 2HS aims to take the next step toward becoming a global leader in products and innovations leveraging their expertise in two-dimensional nanomaterials, and translating graphene technology from research into industrial practice. Emerging from Schaffhausen.
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