ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,286,353, issued on April 29, was assigned to NanoXplore Inc. (Montreal).

"Process for in-situ functionalization of graphene" was invented by Leroy Magwood (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Scott Murray (East Lansing, Mich.) and Trent Hinze (St. Johns, Mich.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A process for in situ functionalization of graphene including placing a graphitic precursor in an exfoliation cannister with exfoliation media; creating an inert atmosphere in the exfoliation cannister; exfoliating the graphitic precursor to form graphene having carboxyl moieties; and reacting the carboxyl moieties in the exfoliation cannister under conditions,...