2D materials | Graphene-Info

Indian researchers make a discovery that may change existing graphene synthesis methods

A team of researchers at IIT-Gandhinagar in India has discovered an unexpected phenomenon that could have significant implications on the existing protocols followed to synthesize graphene and other two dimensional (2D) nanomaterials.

A popular method to synthesize graphene is liquid-phase exfoliation, in which the graphite powder is mixed in a suitable liquid medium and exposed to bursts of high-intensity sound energy (ultrasonication). This ultrasonic energy delaminates the layered parent crystals into daughter nanosheets that suspend and swim in the organic solvents to form a stable dispersion of 2D nanomaterials.

Read the full story Posted: Nov 20, 2019

Graphene and borophene integrated into 2D heterostructures

Researchers from Northwestern University have created 2D heterostructures from graphene and borophene, taking an important step toward creating intergrated circuits from these nanomaterials.

Graphene and borophene successfully ''stitched'' together image Atomic-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy image of a borophene-graphene lateral heterostructure with an overlaid schematic of interfacial boron-carbon bonding. image by Northwestern U

"If you were to crack open an integrated circuit inside a smartphone, you'd see many different materials integrated together," said Mark Hersam, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, who led the research. "However, we've reached the limits of many of those traditional materials. By integrating nanomaterials like borophene and graphene together, we are opening up new possibilities in nanoelectronics."

Read the full story Posted: Oct 14, 2019

New study determines that graphene can be considered a 3D material

A new study from Queen Mary University of London finds that graphene is in fact a 3D material, as well as a 2D material. This Realization is said to be important for understanding its mechanical properties and for developing novel graphene-based devices.

In this study, the researchers asked two fundamental questions: to what extent is graphene graphite, and what is the true thickness of graphene? To their surprise, they found that 2D graphene, which is a flat single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb structure, has many of the same mechanical properties as 3D graphite, which is a naturally occurring form of carbon made up from a very weak stack of many layers of graphene. They show that graphene shares a similar resistance to compression as graphite and that it is significantly thicker than is widely believed.

Read the full story Posted: Sep 24, 2019

Manchester University to host a "Graphene Hackathon"

Manchester University’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Center (GEIC) is to host the world’s first Graphene Hackathon on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 November 2019, in which teams will compete to develop and prototype innovative product ideas using conductive graphene inks.

The GEIC, which specializes in the rapid development and scale up of graphene and other 2D materials applications will host the event over 24 hours. IP, business and technical expertise will be on hand to help develop your innovative ideas, requiring no prior experience with graphene or programming.

Read the full story Posted: Sep 16, 2019

Researchers achieve atomically-precise graphene origami

Past studies by various research groups around the world were able to demonstrate origami-like folding of graphite with a scanning probe, but could not command where or how the folds would occur. Now, by replacing the graphite with high-quality graphene nanoislands, researchers in China and the US have leveraged the atomic-level control of STM into an origami nanofabrication tool with an impressive level of precision.

Pristine graphene precisely folded image

“Similar to conventional paper origami, our current work has made it possible to create new complex nanostructures by custom-design folding of atomic layer materials,” says Hong-Jun Gao, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) who led this latest work. Alongside Shixuan Du and collaborators at CAS, as well as Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland in the U.S, Gao reports how they can fold single layers of graphene with the direction of the fold specified over a range from around the magic angle at 1.1° (where observations of correlated electron behavior have been causing such a stir) to 60°, with a precision of 0.1°. Their STM manipulations also leave tubular structures at the edges that have one-dimensional structure electron characteristics similar to carbon nanotubes.

Read the full story Posted: Sep 08, 2019