Flexible

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Researchers at Korea's Kumoh National Institute of Technology and Yeungnam University have developed a flexible GaN light-emitting diode (LED) that integrates chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene as a transparent current-spreading (TCS) layer on a carbon-supported polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. The device, fabricated using a 2-inch wafer-scale laser lift-off (LLO) process, addresses key limitations of conventional rigid inorganic optoelectronics while maintaining high performance.

The introduction of graphene as the TCS layer plays a central role in improving device efficiency. Compared with a reference flexible GaN LED without graphene, the graphene-integrated device exhibits a 35% increase in electroluminescence intensity at an injection current of 50 mA. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements further confirm enhanced optical performance: the graphene-based LED shows increased PL peak intensity along with a blue shift in peak wavelength, indicating higher output power. In contrast, the reference device exhibits reduced PL intensity and a red shift, consistent with lower emission efficiency.

Researchers from the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology have demonstrated a new class of shape‑configurable thermoacoustic loudspeakers that defy the traditional tradeoff between film thickness, flexibility, and acoustic output. Instead of relying on vibrating membranes, these devices use vertical graphene microstructures to convert electrical signals into sound through rapid heating and cooling, enabling loud, robust, and stretchable audio elements that can be integrated directly onto curved or deformable surfaces.

Fabrication, morphology, and structural features of patterned VrGO films using dual-laser patterning. (a) Schematic illustration of the dual-laser processing strategy for fabricating patterned VrGO TA loudspeakers and their working mechanism. (b,c) SEM images of CO2 -laser and pulsed-laser-irradiated GO films (scale bar: 500 μm). (d) SEM image showing vertically aligned rGO sheets in the VrGO structure (scale bar: 10 μm). (e) 100% stretched kirigami and (f) 3D-structured VrGO films fabricated via pulsed laser-based patterning. Image from: Advanced Science

A core challenge in thermoacoustic speakers is that high sound pressure levels (SPLs) typically require ultrathin conductive films, which are mechanically fragile, difficult to process at scale, and limited in power handling. Thicker films are more durable and easier to manufacture, but they trap heat within their bulk, suppressing thermoacoustic efficiency and causing SPL to collapse as thickness increases. This thickness–performance tradeoff has restricted most previous flexible TA speakers, such as MXene‑based devices, to tens of nanometers thickness, SPLs below 75 dB, and moderate strains around 50%.

A new study, led by the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) along with the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and other international partners like the University of Manchester (under the European Graphene Flagship project), presents EGNITE (Engineered Graphene for Neural Interfaces) - a novel class of flexible, high-resolution, high-precision graphene-based implantable neurotechnology with the potential for a transformative impact in neuroscience and medical applications. 

This work aims to deliver an innovative technology to the growing field of neuroelectronics and brain-computer interfaces. EGNITE builds on the experience of its inventors in fabrication and medical translation of carbon nanomaterials. This innovative technology based on nanoporous graphene integrates fabrication processes standard in the semiconductor industry to assemble graphene microelectrodes of a mere 25 µm in diameter. The graphene microelectrodes exhibit low impedance and high charge injection, essential attributes for flexible and efficient neural interfaces.

Researchers from Korea's Seoul National University and Sungkyunkwan University recently developed a method to grow GaN LED arrays on a flexible graphene layer. The so-called microdisk arrays exhibit excellent crystallinity with a uniform in-plane orientation and strong blue light emission.

Flexible GaN-microLEDs on graphene, Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University

The researchers grew the GaN microdisks on a graphene layer (grown on a sapphire substrate) covered with a micro-patterned SiO₂ mask using metal–organic vapor-phase epitaxy. The microdisks were then processed into micro-LEDs and then successfully transferred onto bendable substrates.

An interdisciplinary research team of the Research Training Group (RTG) 2154 "Materials for Brain" at Kiel University (CAU) has developed a method to produce graphene-enhanced hydrogels with an excellent level of electrical conductivity. What makes this method special is that the mechanical properties of the hydrogels are largely retained. The material is said to have potential for medical functional implants, for example, and other medical applications.

"Graphene has outstanding electrical and mechanical properties and is also very light," says Dr. Fabian Schütt, junior group leader in the Research Training Group, thus emphasizing the advantages of the ultra-thin material, which consists of only one layer of carbon atoms. What makes this new method different is the amount of graphene used. "We are using significantly less graphene than previous studies, and as a result, the key properties of the hydrogel are retained," says Schütt about the current study, which he initiated.

A research team from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) recently developed a graphene-based lithium-ion battery that is flexible enough to be stretched.

Dr. Jeong Gon Son's research team at the Photo-Electronic Hybrids Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) developed the high-capacity, stretchable lithium-ion battery. The battery was developed by fabricating a structurally stretchable electrode consisting solely of electrode materials and then assembling it with stretchable gel electrolyte and stretchable packaging.

Scientists in the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have worked with graphene and carbon nanotubes to develop a working lithium-ion battery that can be stretched by up to 50% without damage to any of the components. According to the scientists, the battery represents a significant step in the development of wearable or body-implantable electronic devices.

Rather than trying to add inherently stretchable materials such as rubber to the battery components, the group focused on creating an accordion-like structure, adding stretchability to materials that are not inherently stretchable. Using graphene and carbon nanotubes, the scientists were able to construct a honeycomb-shaped composite framework, which was then compressed inwardly like an accordion to impart the stretchable properties.

The EU Graphene Flagship has published its graphene application roadmap, showing when the flagship expects different graphene applications to mature and enter the market.

As can be seen in the roadmap above (click here for a larger image), the first applications that are being commercialized now are applications such as composite functional coatings, graphene batteries, low-cost printable electronics (based on graphene inks), photodetectors and biosensors.

Researchers from Italy's ISOF-CNR, University of Naples "Federico II" and Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia have developed new organic n-type FET transistors (OFETs) based on CVD graphene sheets. The researchers say that the new process and materials they used can enable flexible, transparent and short-channel OFETs - which could be used in the future for OLED or OLET (organic light emitting transistor) displays.

To create the new transistors, the researchers used thermally evaporated thin-films of PDIF-CN2 (a perylene diimide derivative) as the the organic semiconductor for the active channel of the transistor with the single-layer CVD graphene (grown at Italy's IIT institute) as the electrode material. The final device architectures have been fabricated via Electron-Beam-Lithography (EBL) and Reactive Ion Etching (RIE).