NGI

Researchers from the University of Manchester and University of Lancaster have exposed high-quality graphene to magnetic fields at room temperature and measured its response. 

"Over the last 10 years, electronic quality of graphene devices has improved dramatically, and everyone seems to focus on finding new phenomena at low, liquid-helium temperatures, ignoring what happens under ambient conditions," says materials scientist Alexey Berdyugin from the University of Manchester. "We decided to turn the heat up and unexpectedly a whole wealth of unexpected phenomena turned up."

Researchers from the University of Manchester in the UK, Wuhan University and Tsinghua University in China and Kansas State University in the U.S have found that nanoripples in graphene can make it a strong catalyst, contrary to predictions that the carbon sheet is as chemically inert as bulk graphite.  

Led by Professor Andre Geim from the National Graphene Institute (NGI), the researchers found that nanorippled graphene can accelerate hydrogen splitting as well as the best metallic-based catalysts. The findings were unexpected, as previous research predicted that graphene would be as chemically inert as the bulk graphite from which it is obtained. The effect is likely to be present in all two-dimensional materials, which inherently are all non-flat.

A team of researchers, led by Professor Aravind Vijayaraghavan based in the National Graphene Institute (NGI), have produced 3D particles made of graphene that come in various interesting shapes, using a variation of the vortex ring effect. These particles have also been shown to be exceptionally efficient in adsorbing contaminants from water, thereby purifying it.

Optical and SEM images of donut, spherical and jellyfish morphologies of GO-VR

The researchers have shown that the formation of these graphene particles is governed by a complex interplay between different forces such as viscosity, surface tension, inertia and electrostatics. Prof Vijayaraghavan said: “We have undertaken a systematic study to understand and explain the influence of various parameters and forces involved in the particle formation. Then, by tailoring this process, we have developed very efficient particles for adsorptive purification of contaminants from water”.

The University of Manchester has entered a partnership with Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa University of Science and Technology, with the aim to deliver a funding boost to graphene innovation. Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President & Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester, and Professor Sir John O’Reilly, President of Khalifa University  officially signed a contract between the two institutions during a VIP visit by a Manchester delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

This international partnership will further accelerate Manchester and Abu Dhabi’s research and innovation into graphene and other 2D materials. The Research & Innovation Center for Graphene and 2D Materials (RIC-2D), based in Khalifa University, is part of a strategic investment program supported by the Government of Abu Dhabi, UAE. This partnership will expedite the development of the RIC-2D at Khalifa University as well as help building capability in graphene and 2D materials in collaboration with Graphene@Manchester, a community that includes the academic–led National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the commercially-focused Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), a pioneering facility already backed by the Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy company Masdar.

An international team of scientists, led by Dr. Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo based at the National Graphene Institute (NGI), used graphene as an electrode to measure both the electrical force applied on water molecules and the rate at which these break in response to such force. The researchers found that water breaks exponentially faster in response to stronger electrical forces.

The researchers believe that this fundamental understanding of interfacial water could be used to design better catalysts to generate hydrogen fuel from water. Dr Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo said: “We hope that the insights from this work will be of use to various communities, including physics, catalysis, and interfacial science and that it can help design better catalysts for green hydrogen production”.

Graphene scientists from The University of Manchester have created a novel ‘nano petri dish’ using two-dimensional (2D) materials to create a new method of observing how atoms move in liquid. The team, led by researchers based at the National Graphene Institute (NGI), used stacks of 2D materials including graphene to trap liquid in order to further understand how the presence of liquid changes the behavior of the solid.

The researchers were able to capture images of single atoms ‘swimming’ in liquid for the first time. The findings could have widespread impact on the future development of green technologies such as hydrogen production.

An international research team, led by The University of Manchester’s National Graphene Institute (NGI), has developed a tunable graphene-based platform that allows for fine control over the interaction between light and matter in the terahertz (THz) spectrum, revealing rare phenomena known as exceptional points. The team also included researchers from Pennsylvania State University and Turkey's Bilkent University and Izmir Institute of Technology.

The researchers estimate that this work could advance optoelectronic technologies to better generate, control and sense light and potentially communications. They demonstrated a way to control THz waves, which exist at frequencies between those of microwaves and infrared waves. The findings could contribute to the development of beyond-5G wireless technology for high-speed communication networks.

Researchers at The University of Manchester, MIT and other international collaborators have succeeded in observing the so-called Schwinger effect, an elusive process that normally occurs only in cosmic events. By applying high currents through specially designed graphene-based devices, the team - based at the National Graphene Institute - succeeded in producing particle-antiparticle pairs from a vacuum.

A vacuum is assumed to be completely empty space, without any matter or elementary particles. However, it was predicted by Nobel laureate Julian Schwinger 70 years ago that intense electric or magnetic fields can break down the vacuum and spontaneously create elementary particles.

It was recently reported that India’s first innovation center for graphene will be set up in Kerala by the Digital University Kerala (DUK), along with Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) in Thrissur, for an investment of Rs 86.41 crore (over USD$11.5 million). Tata Steel Limited is set to be the industrial partner of the center.

The chief investigators of the project, who will also lead it are Dr. AP James of DUK and Dr. A Seema of C-MET. The main collaborators include scientists from the National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, and other industrial partners from around the world.

A team of researchers from universities in Loughborough, Nottingham, Manchester, Lancaster and Kansas (US) has revealed that sonic boom and Doppler-shifted sound waves can be created in a graphene transistor.

When a police car speeds past you with its siren blaring, you hear a distinct change in the frequency of the siren’s noise. This is the Doppler effect. When a jet aircraft’s speed exceeds the speed of sound (about 760 mph), the pressure it exerts upon the air produces a shock wave which can be heard as a loud supersonic boom or thunderclap. This is the Mach effect. The scientists discovered that a quantum mechanical version of these phenomena occurs in an electronic transistor made from high-purity graphene.