Electronics - Page 3

The MINIGRAPH project (Minimally Invasive Neuromodulation Implant and implantation procedure based on ground-breaking GRAPHene technology for treating brain disorders) aims to pave the way for a new generation of adaptive neuroelectronic therapies, resolving the most important limitations of current technology. The project revolves around the development of a new generation of graphene-based brain implants.

The project started in October 2022 and will go on for 36 months. It is a HORIZON-EIC project, with an estimated cost of €3,928,402.50. Among its members are ICN2, IMEC, Fraunhofer, INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, MSRL and more. Recently, Scientists from the Czech Advanced Technologies and Research Institute – CATRIN at Palacký University also announced that they will participate in the project.

Researchers from Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SeoulTech) and Kwangwoon University recently used a novel approach called UV-assisted atomic layer deposition (UV-ALD) to treat graphene electrodes. The choice of this technique resulted in the successful production of a high-performance graphene-dielectric interface. 

The research team became the first to apply UV-ALD to the deposition of dielectric films onto the surface of graphene. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) involves adding ultra-thin layers at the atomic scale to a substrate, and its significance has grown considerably as semiconductor components have shrunk in size. UV-ALD, which combines ultraviolet light with the deposition process, enables more dielectric film placement than traditional ALD. However, no one had explored the application of UV-ALD for 2D materials such as graphene.

Researchers from POLYMAT at the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and the University of Aveiro have reported an accelerated iterative approach enabling the synthesis of a series of length-controlled, ultralong atomically precise graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). The longest GNR displays a 920-atoms core with a 35.8-nm long (147 linearly fused rings) backbone that has been obtained in just three synthetic steps from building blocks of ∼2 nm in length. 

A Lego-like synthesis previously produced record-breaking nanoribbons of 30, then 53 fused rings. Now, a similar ‘accelerated’ modular methodology made a molecular nanoribbon that is triple the longest ever made – in just three simple steps. The resulting graphene nanoribbon is almost 36nm long, with its 147 linearly linked rings and a conjugated core of 920 atoms. The first experiments, although preliminary, envision applications in electronics and optoelectronics, thanks to fluorescence features that reportedly outperform state-of-the-art quantum dots.

Researchers from Portugal's Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores – Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias (INESC MN), Universidade de Lisboa and the UK's University of Exeter have developed an efficient flexible triboelectric textile by using printed graphene electrodes with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and the textile itself as the triboelectric pair.

To achieve this, the team used a textile planarization technique with a polyurethane adhesive, along with three different deposition methods: graphene droplet films (GDF), graphene immersion films (GIF), and graphene spray films (GSF). 

Researchers at Queen Mary University, University of Sussex and University of Brighton have integrated graphene into seaweed to create nanocomposite microcapsules for highly tunable and sustainable epidermal electronics. When assembled into networks, the tiny capsules can record muscular, breathing, pulse, and blood pressure measurements in real-time with ultrahigh precision.

The team explained that much of the current research on nanocomposite-based sensors is related to non-sustainable materials. This means that these devices contribute to plastic waste when they are no longer in use. The new study shows that it is possible to combine molecular gastronomy concepts with biodegradable materials to create such devices that are not only environmentally friendly, but also have the potential to outperform the non-sustainable ones.

Researchers from Purdue University have developed patent-pending, solid-state, continuously tunable thermal devices based on compressible graphene foam composites. The devices can dissipate heat, insulate against cold and function across a wide range of temperatures. 

The devices have the potential to improve battery safety and performance in electronic devices and systems like battery thermal management, space conditioning, vehicle thermal comfort and thermal energy storage.

Researchers from China's Qingdao University and Shenzhen University have developed a graphene-based proof-of-concept for a skin-friendly and wearable textile-based touch panel that converts a person's forearm into a keyboard or sketchpad. The three-layer, touch-responsive material translates what a user sketches or types into computer pictures.

Computer trackpads and electronic signature capture devices are not common in wearables. Researchers have proposed constructing flexible touch-responsive panels out of clear, electrically conductive hydrogels, but these materials are sticky, making writing on them difficult and uncomfortable for the skin. As a result, the research team sought to combine a comparable hydrogel into a comfortable fabric sleeve for drawing or playing computer games.

UK-based Paragraf has acquired U.S-based Cardea Bio, maker of graphene biosensors. Cardea Bio has been renamed Paragraf USA and Michael Heltzen, CEO and co-founder of Cardea Bio, became EVP of Strategy at Paragraf USA.

“Joining Paragraf allows us to use the world’s only mass-produced, transfer-free monolayer graphene to manufacture the state-of-the art graphene-based biosensors developed by the Cardea team over the last ten years. We are looking forward to unlocking powerful synergistic effects to advance the broad and growing use of graphene biosensors for the benefit of both people and the planet,” says Heltzen.

Scientists from CiQUS, ICN2, University of Cantabria, Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), and Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have joined forces to develop a versatile method for building brick by brick carbon nanocircuits with tunable properties. The team sees this as a significant breakthrough in the precise engineering of 2D materials. The proposed fabrication technique opens exciting new possibilities for materials science, and, in particular, for application in advanced electronics and future solutions for sustainable energy.

The team synthesized a new nanoporous graphene structure by connecting ultra-narrow graphene strips, known as “nanoribbons”, by means of flexible “bridges” made of phenylene moieties (which are portions of larger molecules). By modifying in a continuous way the architecture and angle of these bridges, the scientists can control the quantum connectivity between the nanoribbon channels and, ultimately, fine-tune the electronic properties of the graphene nanoarchitecture. The tunability could also be controlled by external stimuli, such as strain or electric fields, providing opportunities for different applications.

Graphene conducts electricity well – too well, in fact, to be useful in microelectronic technology. But by sandwiching graphene between two layers of boron nitride, which also has a hexagonal pattern, a moiré pattern results. The presence of this pattern is accompanied by dramatic changes in the properties of the graphene, essentially turning what would normally be a conducting material into one with (semiconductor-like) properties that are more amenable to use in advanced microelectronics. But in order to harness this potential for industrial use, there is first a need to better understand the dynamics. 

Researchers from University at Buffalo, Japan's National Institute for Materials Science and Chiba University, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Thailand's King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang and Korea's Sungkyunkwan University have chosen a strategy of rapid electrical pulsing to drive carriers in graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) heterostructures deep into the dissipative limit of strong electron-phonon coupling. By using electrical gating to move the chemical potential through the “Moiré bands”, they show a cyclical evolution between metallic and semiconducting states. The team's results demonstrate how a treatment of the dynamics of both hot carriers and hot phonons is essential to understanding the properties of functional graphene superlattices.