Graphene

[wjfox]

Post graphene-related news and discussions here.

[Ulpia-Serdica]

European Project NanoMaster Develops Expanded Graphite for Direct Graphene Production



The NanoMaster project has developed new grades of expanded graphite which have been used to produce high-quality graphene.



Graphene-based composites manufactured on a lab scale have been shown to exhibit impressive properties over unreinforced polymers. A small percentage of graphene within a polymer matrix can significantly improve its strength and stiffness, however the material remains prohibitively expensive for large-scale use as a composite reinforcement Therefore, the concept for this project is to develop the knowledge-based processing methods required to up-scale the production of graphene and expanded graphite reinforced thermoplastic masterbatches and compounds and, ultimately, enable its industrial commercialisation in Europe. The work will focus on developing processes for large scale rapid production of graphene reinforced plastic intermediate materials which can be integrated into current conventional and additive manufacturing processes.

The project is led by NetComposites, UK, and involves 12 other project partners: Philips Consumer Lifestyle, Holland, Timcal, Switzerland, Röchling Automotive, Italy, Asociación de Investigación de Materiales Plásticos y Conexas, Spain, Aero Engine Controls, UK, Teknologisk Institut, Denmark, Promolding, Holland, Avanzare Innovacion Tecnologica, Spain, Master Build Prototype, France, The Institute of Occupational Medicine, UK, Create It Real Aps, Denmark, and LATI Industria Termoplastici, Italy.

NanoMaster commenced in December, 2011, and has recently produced new grades of expanded graphite and nano-graphite. These are designed to be easier to exfoliate in both chemical and mechanical processes and are also useful when trying to tailor the properties of the final composite for different applications.

Further to this, the project has now used the new grade of graphite (plus other commercial grades) to produce graphene via a multiple-stage chemical exfoliation process involving oxidative treatment, washing, filtration and reduction. The target is to produce graphene of tailored flake diameter. The process is able to produce these materials at high yield in short reaction times (up to 90% yield in <24 hours).

Next Steps for the partners include; scaling up the direct graphene production techniques, developing graphene functionalisation techniques, and to begin production of graphene-reinforced powder and rods for use in SLS and FDM, respectively. In addition, information regarding the potential hazards and exposure routes for nanomaterials is extremely limited. Therefore NanoMaster will combine up-to-date surveys of exposure and hazard literature with a workplace questionnaire to give a comprehensive overview of the current status.

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement n° 285718.

http://www.netcomposites.com/news/eu...roduction/7932

[VelesHomais]

I haven't been following Graphene developments in the last year. Is it still supposed to allow for the post-silicon continuation of the Moore's Law and are there any practical applications already on the market?

[Ulpia-Serdica]

Originally Posted by VelesHomais

I haven't been following Graphene developments in the last year. Is it still supposed to allow for the post-silicon continuation of the Moore's Law and are there any practical applications already on the market?

In terms of mass production, there are several established companies and start-ups that are currently working on creating techniques to mass produce graphene. Although the results are still not enough for commercialization and are far too expensive.

Several countries have invested into graphene research, the most notable investments being made by governmental agencies in the UK, US, South Korea and Singapore, although more and more countries have a graphene investment programs.

One of the EU's FET Flagships Initiatives, is about Graphene R&D. It seems that it is one of the favorites to win and if it does it would be awarded $100 million per year for 10 years.

Several companies are already fillings patents for graphene products, even though cheap mass production is still not achieved. Some predicts that graphene based consumer products could be made available with the upcoming 4-5 years.

Here is some interesting news that came out today regarding graphene and the university where it was first isolated (U of Manchester)

Wonder Material Graphene to be Used for New Types Of Materials



The proposal, which will involve researchers from the Universities of Manchester, Cambridge and Lancaster, has been awarded 13.4 million Euros (around £11m) to form a "Synergy Group" by the European Research Council (ERC)

It will aim to utilise two-dimensional substances, such as wonder material graphene, to engineer new types of materials which are just a few atoms thick, but nevertheless have the power to revolutionise the future development of devices such as solar cells, and flexible and transparent electronics.

Starting with one atom-thick substances which possess remarkable properties, the group will focus on ways in which they can be layered up to form 'heterostructures'. These heterostructures will still be just a few atoms thick, but will combine the properties of the different two-dimensional materials which comprise them, effectively enabling developers to embed the functions of a device into its very fabric.

For example, the research team envisage combining an atomic layer which functions as a sensor, with layers that function variously as an amplifier, transistor, or solar cell, for power generation. The resulting material, still just a few atomic layers in thickness, would be capable of running a whole circuit.

The award to launch the project was announced by the ERC as part of its first competition for 'Synergy Grants', which were introduced last year on a pilot basis. It will bring together the talents of the Nobel Prize-winner, Professor Kostya Novoselov at Manchester, Professor Andrea Ferrari at Cambridge, and Professor Vladimir Falko at Lancaster.

The team will be part of the UK's Graphene Global Research and Technology Hub, including the £61m National Graphene Institute, which is being developed at The University of Manchester to continue its world-leading and collaborative work in the field.

Widely regarded as a wonder material on account of its numerous capabilities, graphene is a two-dimensional structure consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb or chicken wire structure. It was first isolated by Professor Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov at The University of Manchester in 2004.

It is the thinnest material in the world and yet also one of the strongest. It conducts electricity as efficiently as copper and outperforms all other materials as a conductor of heat.

The Synergy Group will aim to combine these properties with those of other, two-dimensional materials for the sake of creating an amazing range of applications and devices, among them new types of transistors, solar cells and other optoelectronic components.

Professor Novosleov said: "The award of the Synergy Grant is an exciting development. We bet on the high-risk idea that by combining the properties of several, one-atom thick materials into a single, three-dimensional heterostructure, we would create a new class of materials with predetermined properties and multiple functionalities."

"You might think that building materials layer by layer is science fiction. But if we succeed, this new combination of known materials, the two-dimensional atomic crystals, built layer by layer, will offer an amazing range of applications and devices."

Professor Ferrari said: "The impact of the proposed research can be imagined considering that graphene is just one of a potentially endless range of embodiments of the general concept we aim to explore in this project. This new field of research will open new horizons and opportunities for science, technology and scholarship."

"The combined expertise in physics, engineering and theoretical modelling combing from the synergy of our three groups and institutions will be key to achieving our objectives."

Professor Falko said: "Our project is challenging, both at the technical and conceptual level. We aim to extend science and technology of atomically thin films into materials far beyond graphene, where properties of atomically thin crystals are not known, yet."

"This project offers excellent opportunities for the early career researchers, who, thanks to the ERC, will be able to join our team – theorists, experimentalist and engineers - to enjoy surprises and make discoveries."

In total, 11 projects from more than 700 original applications were selected to receive ERC funding.

The President of the ERC, Professor Helga Nowotny, said: "The ERC Synergy Grant provides a unique opportunity for outstanding scientists to explore jointly-formulated research questions, which take them beyond normal – even if otherwise excellent – science."

"It aims to bring together the right kind of people at the right time, in the right configuration, to work on the right kind of problem. This grant scheme gives researchers a lot of freedom to work together in new ways."

http://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=26234

[Ulpia-Serdica]

Some more money gets poured into British graphene research

Graphene research gets £21.5m investment fund

The Chancellor, George Osborne, has outlined plans to boost development of the "super-material" graphene.

It is one of the lightest, strongest and most conductive materials known, with great commercialisation potential.

Now, £21.5m - £12m from a 2011 funding of £50m and nearly £10m from the science research council EPSRC - will be allocated to specific universities.

In addition, those universities and their industrial partners will commit a total of £14m to the effort.

Mr Osborne said the investment fund would aim to take the technology "from the British laboratory to the British factory floor".

Graphene is sheets of carbon just one atom thick - the very same material making up a pencil's "lead", but with record-breaking mechanical strength and electronic properties.

Manchester University academics Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov won the 2010 physics Nobel Prize in Physics for isolating the material and measuring some of its astounding properties.

But since the material's discovery in 2005, scientists have sought to make good use of those attributes - no easy task when working at the atomic scale.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has now identified the most promising graphene-related research projects in British universities to benefit from state funding.

The University of Cambridge has been awarded more than £12m for research into graphene flexible electronics and opto-electronics, which could include things like touch-screens and other display devices.

Imperial College London will receive over £4.5m to investigate aerospace applications of graphene.

The other successful projects are based at Durham University, the University of Manchester, the University of Exeter and Royal Holloway.

The universities will themselves contribute about £2m to the overall effort, and will work with industrial partners including Nokia, BAE Systems, Procter & Gamble, Qinetiq, Rolls-Royce, Dyson, Sharp and Philips Research - which will together bring in a further £12m in investment.

Mr Osborne told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there had been "enormous competition" for the graphene research to be done elsewhere in the world, rather than the UK.

He said: "We had to act very quickly... to step in and say we're going to provide funding here in Britain for that activity. That's an example of actually actively backing a winner to keep it in the UK."

Mr Osborne said there were several ways in which the UK could become an attractive location for scientific research, including more financial backing from the government, protecting spending on science, and more investment in big capital science projects.

He added that Britain's universities - the "jewels in the crown" of the UK economy - needed to be protected.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20846282

An interesting find

Graphene on nickel: Electrons behave like light



Dr. Andrei Varykhalov and his colleagues in the group of Prof. Dr. Oliver Rader investigated at BESSY II the electronic properties of nickel coated with graphene and achieved an astonishing result. They could show that the conduction electrons of the graphene behave rather as light than as particles. Physicists had originally expected such behavior only for freestanding graphene layers which show a perfect honeycomb structure and not for graphene on nickel which disturbs the perfect hexagonal symmetry.

Their results are supported by calculations of two theoretical groups using novel concepts. Their report was published in the open access journal, Phys. Rev. X ("Intact Dirac Cones at Broken Sublattice Symmetry: Photoemission Study of Graphene on Ni and Co"), the new top journal of the Physical

Employing photoelectron spectroscopy at BESSY II, the physicists were able to establish so-called Dirac cones of massless fermions, which prove the light-like behavior. After their experiments, they could enlist two theoretical groups for supporting their results by contributing new explanations to today's publication. “These results are surprising” says Varykhalov, the reason being that the nickel atoms interact in two different and mutually compensating ways with the carbon atoms of the graphene. On the one hand, they destroy the perfect hexagonal symmetry of the graphene lattice.

On the other hand they provide the graphene layer with extra electrons - which compensates for the “damage” inflicted upon the graphene by disturbing the lattice. “We uncovered a fundamental mechanism that is interesting for possible applications” says Varykhalov adding that graphene is usually supported by such a substrate and that the extra electrons for “healing” could as well be supplied by an electrical voltage.

http://www.nanowerk.com/news2/newsid=28232.php

[Ulpia-Serdica]

Australian scientists adapt graphene for use in high-speed electronics

Scientists at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology claim to have found a way to enable graphene to be used in high-speed electronics.

Scientists at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology claim to have found a way to enable graphene to be used in high-speed electronics.

Graphene is one of the thinnest, lightest, strongest and most conductive materials know to man, consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb structure. However, its physical properties prevent it from being used for high-speed electronics.

The scientists have therefore adapted graphene to create a new conductive nano-material made up of layers of crystal known as molybdenum oxides. This new material has unique properties that encourage the free flow of electrons at ultra-high speeds.

The CSIRO's Dr Serge Zhuiykov explained that, in conventional materials, atomic-scale "road blocks" can obstruct the electrons as they pass through, causing them to scatter.

The new nano-material is made up of layered sheets, allowing electrons are able to "zip through at high speeds with minimal scattering". In the paper, the researchers describe how the scientists used a process known as "exfoliation" to create layers of the material just 11nm thick.

"Quite simply, if electrons can pass through a structure quicker, we can build devices that are smaller and transfer data at much higher speeds," said Zhuiykov.

The paper, titled "Enhanced Charge Carrier Mobility in Two-Dimensional High Dielectric Molybdenum Oxide", will be published in the January issue of materials science journal Advanced Materials.

The news comes as the UK government prepares to invest a total of £21.5 million in the commercialisation of graphene, which many regard as the natural successor to silicon as a semiconductor in modern technology.

The University of Cambridge has been awarded over £12 million for research into graphene flexible electronics and optoelectronics, which could include things like touchscreens and other display devices.

London's Imperial College will receive over £4.5 million to investigate aerospace applications of graphene, working with a number of industrial partners including Airbus.

The other successful projects are based at Durham University, the University of Manchester, the University of Exeter and Royal Holloway. The universities will be working with industrial partners such as Nokia, BAE Systems, Procter & Gamble, Qinetiq, Rolls-Royce, Dyson, Sharp and Philips Research, which together will bring a further £12 million to the table.

"The discovery of graphene was the first step towards a revolution in materials. This funding will advance research into the uses of this incredible material and support the next steps towards applications that will benefit individuals, industry and the UK economy," said Professor David Delpy, chief executive of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=71C...A16F885151DD00

[Middle-Island]

I've read the light and strong, conductive material graphene will be an advancement as revolutionary in the 21st century, as the development of polymers (plastics) were to the early 20th. Reading that on SSP, which has had long standing and in depth threads on the look of the future, it's good to see SSC getting on board with a forum that deals with tech advances and space exploration.

[Ulpia-Serdica]

Today some information leaked about the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship competition. The Graphene project was one of the two selected winners. It will receive €1 billion over ten years, half to be provided by the European Commission and half by participants (both private and public).



LEARN MORE HERE: http://www.graphene-flagship.eu

[Ulpia-Serdica]

After the University of Manchester announced its Graphene Institute, we now have Cambridge University interesting in creating an R&D center.

Cambridge University To Open £25M Graphene R&D Centre With Backing from Nokia, Plastic Logic & Others



Material scientists and nanotechnologists get very excited about the potential of graphene — a one-atom-thick sheet of bonded carbon atoms which is exceptionally strong, lightweight and flexible and is a better conductor than silicon – but they are not the only ones to see huge potential in it. Nokia, Plastic Logic, Philips, Dyson, and BaE systems are among more than 20 industry partners who have pledged £13 million worth of support for a new graphene R&D centre to be established at Cambridge University. The Centre is also backed by more than £12 million of government funding.

It’s unclear exactly what kind of support Nokia et al will be providing the centre but we’ve reached out to Cambridge University for more information and will update this story with any response. Nokia does already have an R&D lab in Cambridge, at the University’s Broers Building — one of a network of labs Nokia operates. According to the website, Nokia’s Cambridge lab studies ”physical, chemical and biological phenomena and manipulation of matter at the nanoscale enables generation of knowledge for enhancing human capabilities”.

The new Cambridge Graphene Centre aims to develop graphene from a material with a lot of raw potential — researchers have already been looking at how graphene could improve battery capacity, and exploring its water-repelling properties — to a point where it can “revolutionise flexible, wearable and transparent electronics”. Future industrial applications envisaged by the University are said to lie in the areas of “flexible electronics, energy, connectivity and optoelectronics”. So, hopefully, bendy, see-through wearable smartphones here we come — albeit, not tomorrow.

One of the issues scientists have with graphene to-date is making (i.e. growing) large quantities of it — large enough to be useful for industrial applications. Graphene sheets are also difficult to manipulate and connect with other materials. So one of the projects the Centre will undertake will look specifically at the “manufacturability” of graphene and other, layered, 2D materials — focusing on a growth method called chemical vapour deposition that has been used to enable industrial scale production of other materials, such as diamond, carbon nanotubes and gallium nitride.

As well as tackling graphene manufacturing, the Centre will investigate how graphene can be integrated into networked devices — “with the ultimate vision of creating an ‘internet of things’” — and look into how it can improve the performance of super-capacitors and batteries. So potentially improving the longevity of consumer electronics devices, such as phones and MP3 players, but also aiming to provide “a more effective energy storage for electric vehicles [and] storage on the grid”.

“Graphene’s potential is beyond doubt, but much more research is needed if we are to develop it to a point where it proves of benefit to society as a whole,” said Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, in a statement.

Professor Andrea Ferrari, who will be the Centre’s Director, added in a statement: “We are now in the second phase of graphene research, following the award of the Nobel Prize to Geim and Novoselov. That means we are targeting applications and manufacturing processes, and broadening research to other two-dimensional materials and hybrid systems. The integration of these new materials could bring a new dimension to future technologies, creating faster, thinner, stronger, more flexible broadband devices.”

The Cambridge Graphene Centre will start “activities” on February 1 this year, although the dedicated research facility isn’t slated to open until the end of the year. Its activities will be funded by a more than £12 million government grant, allocated to the University in December by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. A further £11M of European Research Council funding will support activities with the Graphene Institute in Manchester, and Lancaster University.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/24/cam...ernment-grant/

[Сталин]

Very interesting idea, I hope it works on a large scale!

[tedecom]

Originally Posted by Ulpia-Serdica

Today some information leaked about the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship competition. The Graphene project was one of the two selected winners. It will receive €1 billion over ten years, half to be provided by the European Commission and half by participants (both private and public).

LEARN MORE HERE: http://www.graphene-flagship.eu

FUTURE MARKETS prepared list of 13 most important institutes and companies in the world working with graphene. Among them are IBM, MIT, Samsung, University of Manchaster and ITME (from Warsaw). I don't know whole list, but two of these above are in the European Program, mentioned by Ulpia-Serdica.

ITME is responsible for production of the best quality material -> as big as possible and with the minimum number of defects. Method of production developed by ITME use the same devices and technology which are already in use in silicon integrated circuit production.

[ramanujann]

DVD player burns graphene to disc

Producing a highly sought wonder material can be as easy as burning a DVD. That is according to chemists in the US, who have used a standard DVD player to reduce films of graphite oxide to graphene. These graphene films can be made into high-performance, flexible capacitors fit for bendy solar cells or roll-up displays.

A lot of current research is focused on producing high-performance capacitors for energy storage. Electrochemical capacitors, otherwise known as supercapacitors, have some promising attributes - they can undergo frequent charge and discharge cycles, for instance - but in general they are still limited by low energy and power densities. Higher energy densities would enable devices to run longer, while higher power densities would enable them to run faster.

Graphene - the subject of the 2010 physics Nobel prize - is one material that could improve the performance of electrochemical capacitors. A sheet of graphite just one atom thick, it has an extremely high surface area and electrical conductivity, which suggests it would offer high energy and power densities. Unfortunately, graphene has proved difficult to fabricate and samples that are produced often stick together, reducing their surface area.


Maher El-Kady and others at the University of California at Los Angeles have now found a way to fabricate graphene films, and graphene capacitors, without any sticking together. The researchers take a DVD and apply a layer of plastic, followed by a film of graphite oxide. They then insert the DVD into a standard DVD drive, so that the in-built laser chemically reduces the graphite oxide to graphene. Having removed the disc, the researchers peel off the plastic, which is then coated in graphene, and cut it into whatever shapes they desire.

To make the graphene films into capacitors, El-Kady's group fill the space between two parallel sheets of the laser-scribed graphene with an electrolyte, phosphoric acid. Not only are these capacitors flexible, but they have an electrical performance that surpasses other commercial energy-storage devices, according to the researchers' tests. Compared with a carbon electrochemical capacitor, for instance, the graphene capacitors had energy densities that were twice as high and power densities that were 20 times higher.

'We believe that our devices will pave the way to further applications - for example, flexible power supplies for roll-up computer displays, wearable electronics, and energy-storage systems to be combined with flexible photovoltaic cells,' says El-Kady.

Yury Gogotsi, a materials scientist at Drexel University in Philadelphia, US, is impressed by the fabrication technique. '[The] two main points that are most novel ... are not particularly the high gravimetric capacitance and energy density of the devices, but the simple fabrication process and exceptional mechanical stability, which has not been previously reported anywhere else,' he says.

El-Kady says the next step is to demonstrate that the fabrication volume can be improved, while minimising cost. 'Our initial calculations show that the price of the precursor, graphite oxide, and the whole process is viable for commercial applications,' he adds.

Jon Cartwright

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Ne...rcapacitor.asp

[Ulpia-Serdica]

Graphene Converts Single Photons into Multiple Electrons to Drive Electric Current

Bottles, packaging, furniture, car parts... all made of plastic. Today we find it difficult to imagine our lives without this key material that revolutionized technology over the last century. There is wide-spread optimism in the scientific community that graphene will provide similar paradigm shifting advances in the decades to come.

Mobile phones that fold, transparent and flexible solar panels, extra thin computers... the list of potential applications is endless. Scientists, industries and the European Commission are so convinced of the potential of graphene to revolutionize the world economy that they promise an injection of €1.000 million in graphene research.

The most recent discovery published in Nature Physics and made by researchers at the Institute of Photonic Science (ICFO), in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Germany, and Graphenea S.L. Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain, demonstrate that graphene is able to convert a single photon that it absorbs into multiple electrons that could drive electric current (excited electrons) – a very promising discovery that makes graphene an important alternative material for light detection and harvesting technologies, now based on conventional semiconductors like silicon.

"In most materials, one absorbed photon generates one electron, but in the case of graphene, we have seen that one absorbed photon is able to produce many excited electrons, and therefore generate larger electrical signals" explains Frank Koppens, group leader at ICFO. This feature makes graphene an ideal building block for any device that relies on converting light into electricity. In particular, it enables efficient light detectors and potentially also solar cells that can harvest light energy from the full solar spectrum with lower loss.

The experiment consisted in sending a known number of photons with different energies (different colors) onto a monolayer of graphene. "We have seen that high energy photons (e.g. violet) are converted into a larger number of excited electrons than low energy photons (e.g. infrared). The observed relation between the photon energy and the number of generated excited electrons shows that graphene converts light into electricity with very high efficiency. Even though it was already speculated that graphene holds potential for light-to-electricity conversion, it now turns out that it is even more suitable than expected!" explains Tielrooij, researcher at ICFO.

Although there are some issues for direct applications, such as graphene's low absorption, graphene holds the potential to cause radical changes in many technologies that are currently based on conventional semiconductors. "It was known that graphene is able to absorb a very large spectrum of light colors. However now we know that once the material has absorbed light, the energy conversion efficiency is very high. Our next challenge will be to find ways of extracting the electrical current and enhance the absorption of graphene. Then we will be able to design graphene devices that detect light more efficiently and could potentially even lead to more efficient solar cells." concludes Koppens.

SOURCE: http://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=26698

[wjfox]

Research Hints at Graphene’s Photovoltaic Potential

March 2, 2013

Researchers have demonstrated that graphene is highly efficient at generating electrons upon absorbing light, which suggests that the material could be used to make light sensors and perhaps even more efficient solar cells.

http://www.zeitnews.org/applied-scie...taic-potential

[UmarPK]

I can make this my self, very useful for my personal applications.

[wjfox]

Pentagon weapons-maker finds method for cheap, clean water

A defense contractor better known for building jet fighters and lethal missiles says it has found a way to slash the amount of energy needed to remove salt from seawater, potentially making it vastly cheaper to produce clean water at a time when scarcity has become a global security issue.

The process, officials and engineers at Lockheed Martin Corp say, would enable filter manufacturers to produce thin carbon membranes with regular holes about a nanometer in size that are large enough to allow water to pass through but small enough to block the molecules of salt in seawater. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.

Because the sheets of pure carbon known as graphene are so thin - just one atom in thickness - it takes much less energy to push the seawater through the filter with the force required to separate the salt from the water, they said.

The development could spare underdeveloped countries from having to build exotic, expensive pumping stations needed in plants that use a desalination process called reverse osmosis.

"It's 500 times thinner than the best filter on the market today and a thousand times stronger," said John Stetson, the engineer who has been working on the idea. "The energy that's required and the pressure that's required to filter salt is approximately 100 times less."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...92C05720130313

[Peregrin Tuk]

Very interesting topic, maybe of we put a lot of images of how it works
the graphene it could be better.

I will search in my cpu a ppt about it.

[AnOldBlackMarble]

Graphene aerogel takes world’s lightest material crown

Not even a year after it claimed the title of the world’s lightest material, aerographite has been knocked off its crown by a new aerogel made from graphene. Created by a research team from China’s Zhejiang University in the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering lab headed by Professor Gao Chao, the ultra-light aerogel has a density lower than that of helium and just twice that of hydrogen.

Although first created in 1931 by American scientist and chemical engineer, Samuel Stephens Kistler, aerogels have recently become a hotly contested area of scientific research. A “multiwalled carbon nanotube (MCNT) aerogel” dubbed “frozen smoke” with a density of 4 mg/cm3 lost its world’s lightest material title in 2011 to a micro-lattice material with a density of 0.9 mg/cm3. Less than a year later, aerographite claimed the crown with its density of 0.18 mg/cm3. Full story at Gizmag.

[Ulpia-Serdica]

Revolutionary new device joins world of smart electronics

Unique properties of graphene and graph Exeter combine to create a new flexible, transparent, photosensitive device

Smart electronics are taking the world by storm. From techno-textiles to transparent electronic displays, the world of intelligent technology is growing fast and a revolutionary new device has just been added to its ranks. Researchers at the University of Exeter have developed a new photoelectric device that is both flexible and transparent. The device, described in a paper in the journal ACS Nano, converts light into electrical signals by exploiting the unique properties of the recently discovered materials graphene and graphExeter. GraphExeter is the best known room temperature transparent conductor and graphene is the thinnest conductive material.

At just a few atoms thick, the newly developed photoelectric device is ultra-lightweight. This, along with the flexibility of its constituent graphene materials, makes it perfect for incorporating into clothing. Such devices could be used to develop photovoltaic textiles enabling clothes to act as solar panels and charge mobile phones while they are being worn.

Photosensitive materials and devices such as the one developed at Exeter can, in the future, also be used for intelligent windows that are able to harvest electricity and display images while remaining transparent. Smart materials have almost unlimited potential applications from integral iPods and keyboards in clothing to electronic displays on glasses and goggles.

Saverio Russo, Professor of Physics at the University of Exeter said: "This new flexible and transparent photosensitive device uses graphene and graphExeter to convert light into electrical signals with efficiency comparable to that found in opaque devices based on graphene and metals.

"We are only just starting to explore the interfaces between different materials at very small scales and, as this research shows, we are revealing unique properties that we never knew existed. Who knows what surprises are just around the corner."

Metallic nanostructures in smart materials typically cause a haze that prevents them from being truly transparent. The photosensitive device developed at Exeter contains no metals and is therefore completely transparent but, as it can detect light from across the whole visible light spectrum, it is as efficient at sensing light as other recently developed opaque photoelectric devices.

SOURCE: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-rnd041913.php

[Ulpia-Serdica]

Ultra-fast Switching Graphene Transistor Developed



Graphene researchers announced that they developed a super-fast switching transistor capable of revolutionizing technologies for medical imaging and security screening.

Writing in Nature Communications, the researchers from the Universities of Manchester and Nottingham report the first graphene-based transistor with bistable characteristics, which means that the device can spontaneously switch between two electronic states. Such devices are in great demand as emitters of electromagnetic waves in the high-frequency range between radar and infra-red, relevant for applications such as security systems and medical imaging.

Bistability is a common phenomenon - a seesaw-like system has two equivalent states and small perturbations can trigger spontaneous switching between them. The way in which charge-carrying electrons in graphene transistors move makes this switching incredibly fast - trillions of switches per second.

Wonder material graphene is the world's thinnest, strongest and most conductive material, and has the potential to revolutionize a huge number of diverse applications; from smartphones and ultrafast broadband to drug delivery and computer chips. It was first isolated at The University of Manchester in 2004.

"Graphene research is relatively mature but multi-layered devices made of different atomically-thin materials such as graphene were first reported only a year ago. This architecture can bring many more surprises", said Dr Liam Britnell, University of Manchester, the first author of the paper.

The device consists of two layers of graphene separated by an insulating layer of boron nitride just a few atomic layers thick. The electron clouds in each graphene layer can be tuned by applying a small voltage. This can induce the electrons into a state where they move spontaneously at high speed between the layers.

Because the insulating layer separating the two graphene sheets is ultra-thin, electrons are able to move through this barrier by ‘quantum tunnelling'. This process induces a rapid motion of electrical charge which can lead to the emission of high-frequency electromagnetic waves.

One of the researchers, Professor Laurence Eaves, said: "In addition to its potential in medical imaging and security screening, the graphene devices could also be integrated on a chip with conventional, or other graphene-based, electronic components to provide new architectures and functionality.

"For more than 40 years, technology has led to ever-smaller transistors; a tour de force of engineering that has provided us with today's state-of-the-art silicon chips which contain billions of transistors. Scientists are searching for an alternative to silicon-based technology, which is likely to hit the buffers in a few years' time, and graphene may be an answer."

SOURCE: http://www.scienceworldreport.com/ar...-developed.htm