The GRAPHENE mega thread - because it's technology you need to know about!

a reply to: Fowlerstoad

The sandwiching of materials is what is going to be "the next big thing". You can control "hole size" in graphene by blocking the regular hexagonal formation and allow a "pipe" or "tunnel" so when you layer the sheets electrons can be shuttled off to ... where ever they are needed!

The insulator-conductor-insulator concept is really exciting because that is how almost all electronics we currently understand and use are created. Add on top of that the sandwich of the silicon-graphene sheets then things get really interesting! Imagine a CPU that is spread out flat and 12 atoms thick! It will use less electricity, be faster than you really need, and more powerful than you need. Then you start creating a capacitor/battery, the graphene-Siligraphane CPU, and a graphene display, all about as thick as a sheet of paper??

OK, maybe a little thicker but you get the idea!! The protective case will be thicker than the graphene tablet!!

Here is an example of layered graphene upon a titanium oxide sheet used to explore the properties of nano catalysts.

Source: ScienceDaily Hot electrons detected in real time

In a new study, the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) team working under the Center's group leader, Professor PARK Jeong Young, created a catalytic nanodiode composed of a single layer of graphene and titanium film (TiO2) that enabled the detection of hot electrons on platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs). This breakthrough research developed a catalytic nanodiode that allowed the team to observe in real time the flow of hot electrons generated by chemical reactions.

Creating semiconductors (insulator-conductor layers), diodes, triodes, graphene nano ribbons, along with other 2D materials is exactly what I mentioned previously in the new field of graphene based electronics.

The catalytic nanodiode is wonderful to directly observe nano-particle catalyst reactions instead of doing a statistical analysis of residual reactants!

More use of graphenee as a layer for other 2D materials.

Graphene sheet on diamond has been used to make photovoltaic self-assemble at the atomic level!

Source: PHOTONICS.com Photoresponsive Supramolecular Networks Self-Assemble on Graphene

The dye molecules self-assemble on the atomically flat surfaces of a graphene coated diamond substrate into the target architecture in a manner akin to proteins and DNA nanotechnology. The sole driving force stems from the engineered supramolecular interactions via hydrogen bonds. As expected, say the researchers, the molecular network produces a photocurrent when exposed to light

And building materials this way is

akin to proteins and DNA nanotechnology

(self-assembly)

This is construction from the bottom up of another 2D material using graphene as a place mat. This is a pretty cool use of graphene which will probably see uses in many other places.

Another use of graphene in another product.

The use of graphene as a moisture shield and one-way gate keeper in a hydrogen fuel cell.

Source - ScienceDaily: New fuel cell design powered by graphene-wrapped nanocrystals

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a new materials recipe for a battery-like hydrogen fuel cell--which surrounds hydrogen-absorbing magnesium nanocrystals with atomically thin graphene sheets--to push its performance forward in key areas.

The graphene shields the nanocrystals from oxygen and moisture and contaminants, while tiny, natural holes allow the smaller hydrogen molecules to pass through. This filtering process overcomes common problems degrading the performance of metal hydrides for hydrogen storage.

There will probably be more stories of this type of use as graphene is an ideal moisture barrier.

Graphenee and research for use in the medical industry

Graphene oxide is effective against four important human pathogens, according to a team of physicists and biotechnologists in Italy
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Coating medical instruments and devices in (graphne oxide) could help to reduce infections, especially after an operation, as well as reducing antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance, say the researchers.
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They found that 200 nm sheets of graphene oxide in a water solution killed around 90% of S. aureus and E. faecalis, and around 50% of E. coli in less than two hours. Graphene oxide was effective against bacteria, even at concentrations below 10 μg/ml.

Source: Nanotechweb.org: Graphene oxide tackles antibiotic resistance

The article goes on to describe how graphene splits bacteria (they say 'cut'), confines their growth, and "oxidizes" them (does that mean 'burn'?? Not certain. Maybe it is more like vitamin C being an anti-oxidant is a good thing and graphene oxide being not good for bacteria and fungi).

The researchers say this may become necessary as drug resistant infections become more wide-spread. They want to research graphene oxide for use against MRSA.

I have no objections to fighting MRSA! That is a nasty bug there. I had been looking for 'negative' news on graphene (specifically "cytotoxicity" and when too much of it causes harm to humans) but instead found this article and just had to share!

The below article is mostly about graphene analogs (mainly boron nitride because its an insulator where graphene is a conductor) but it starts off with this blurb about deliberately creating even sized holes in graphene sheets.

2D nanomaterials such as graphene, which can be prepared in nanosheets with arrays of holes that penetrate through the entire sheet thickness (typically just one or a few atomic layers). The product is often called holey graphene. The holes are void defects, ranging in diameter from a few to tens of nanometers, much larger than is conventionally considered for point defects (where an atom is either missing from the structure or in an irregular place in the lattice). The presence of holes also provides abundant edge atoms, which for typical intact nanosheets only exist around the sheet periphery. Holey graphene has already shown significant potential for energy storage, catalysis, sensing, transistors, and molecular transport/separation.

Source: SPIE (international society for optics and photonics) Putting the holes in holey white graphene

White graphene is the boron nitride 2D sheets in a hexagonal arrangement. Add specific sized holes and it become holey white graphene. Again this material will be used in conjunction with graphene to build the next generation electronics.

Sorry, can't help myself, "Holy White Graphene, Batman!"

There is an Australian company that is going to start making graphene products commercially!

Imagine Intelligent Materials Pty Limited (Imagine IM) is set to build Australia’s first commercial graphene manufacturing plant. This is significant for the quickly emerging field of graphene-enhanced materials, and those materials include geosynthetics.

Graphene offers high electrical and thermal conductivity, hydrophobicity, strength, and impermeability to all gases. Layers of graphene could give materials strength exceeding steel, enable self-repairing qualities, and impart an electrical conductivity greater than copper. In geosynthetics, this may create nanocomposite materials with superior anti-clogging properties in geotextiles, heightened leak location ability in lining systems, a wider range of conductive materials, and much more.

Imagine IM is the first company in the world to develop conductive geomaterials using functionalized graphene. It will announce its first products for the geosynthetics industry at GeoAmericas 2016.

Source: Geosynthetica.net Imagine’s First Commercial Graphene Manufacturing Plant in Australia

Company link: Imagine Intelligent Materials Graphene Solutions

The company is stating to make graphene "in high volumes at scale within our licensees’ plants." This will mainly be coatings "delivered as masterbatch" (quotes from company website).

Having never worked in a coating or manufacturing company I had to look up "masterbatch" Wikipedia - Masterbatch

Masterbatch is a solid or liquid additive for plastic used for coloring plastics (color masterbatch) or imparting other properties to plastics (additive masterbatch). Masterbatch is a concentrated mixture of pigments and/or additives encapsulated during a heat process into a carrier resin which is then cooled and cut into a granular shape

That is for pigments in plastic. I assume that this will be used as additives in other materials. The "functionalized graphene" is using graphene's electrical properties as some form of detector or sensor. The website also mentions the use in construction.

Welcome to the city of the future? I hope so!!

This was posted yesterday but I had nothing more to offer and was in a hurry so I did not post it.

[T]he researchers deposited layers of graphene oxide onto shrink films—polymer membranes that shrink when heated (kids may know these as Shrinky Dinks). As the films shrink, the graphene on top is compressed, causing it to wrinkle and crumple. To see what kind of structures they could create, the researchers compressed same graphene sheets multiple times.
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You don't need a new material to do it," Chen said. "You just need to crumple the graphene."
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"There are many new two-dimensional nanomaterials that have interesting properties, not just graphene," Wong said. "So other materials or combinations of materials may also organize into interesting structures with unexpected functionalities."

physic.org article Wrinkles and crumples make graphene better

The article describes how crumpling and wrinkling graphene makes the surface more curved and more hydrophobic--superhydrophobic. They also tried various methods and created various patterns to see what properties were enhanced. The last statement is very interesting to me especially as they start sandwiching all this stuff together.

Thinking back on this article I began to wonder. So Scotch tape, pencil lead, and Shrinky Dinks would have put me at the forefront of graphene research?? And all I was told was to clean my mess up (i.e., toss it in the trash!).

An example of using 3D graphene aerogel with regular battery tech.

In the experiments, the team dipped prefabricated graphene aerogel electrodes in metal ion solutions where all metal oxide nanoparticles appear to be anchored on the surface of graphene and are fully accessible to the electrolyte (i.e., open pore space).
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The method can deposit most types of MOs onto the same prefabricated 3D graphene structure, allowing for direct comparison of electrochemical performance of a wide range of GMOs.

“We found that the experiments showed large reversible lithium storage capacities of graphene sheets, enabled by the unheralded roles of metal oxides,” Wang said. “Surprisingly, we saw the magnitude of capacity contributions from graphene is mainly determined by active materials and the type of MO bound onto the graphene surface.”

Source: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Scientists pump up batteries with metal oxides

A longer battery life and shorter charging times in good old Li-ion? Sounds like a win-win and even quicker acceptance of graphene into everyday use!

Why wait for somebody else to make a useful product? Get your lab coats, PPE, and clean off your work area!

Company link: Graphene Supermarket

Even if you are not going to masterbatch some new fabric, you can pick up graphene 3D printer threads (it is the stuff called, "Ferro-magnetic PLA") and print magnetic logs. Got a hundred dollars lying around? Grab some aerogel for your ultra-hip executive desktop gizmo!

I think the stuff is meant for real research and not something you give to the kids on a rainy day but it is nice to see real-world prices on products you could purchase.

[ETA: I wonder what a graphene ferro magnetic guitar pickup would sound like? I am thinking of surface mounted to the pickguard and adjustable forward/backward/slanting on some kind of rail system]

To break a very strong bond between carbon atoms, an equivalently strong chemical reaction must be induced. But the chemical reaction not only cuts out the desirable borders, but also damages the surrounding ones. Conventional techniques, which cut out graphene at once, damaged the chemical properties of the graphene structure after unzipping. This is similar to wearing out paper while manipulating it.

To solve this problem, the research team adopted "heteroatom doping." The idea is similar to a sheet of paper being split following a groove drawn on the sheet. After making some regions of the structure unstable by doping other atoms such as nitrogen on a carbon plane, the regions are electrochemically stimulated to split the parts. Nitrogen or other atoms act as the groove on the grapheme plane.

The researchers finely controlled the amount of unzipping graphene by adjusting the amount of heteroatom dopants, from which they were able to create a quality nano graphene without any damage in its 2-dimensional crystalline structure.

Source: ScienceDaily: Technology to enable unzipping of the graphene plane

Since graphene is technically a salt (a crystalline structure) they found a cool way to split a salt grain that is not random and haphazard (or destructive)! I like the "crease in paper" analogy. The accompanying graphic shows both a flat plane and a rolled up tube being split--text is in Korean. But armed with the analogy you do not have to know how to read Korean because it makes sense!

A different team has fabricated a graphene electrode but instead of aerogel they used a synthetic resin.

[The team manufactured] a self-supporting and ready-to-go electrode that consists of a glassy ceramic called silicon oxycarbide sandwiched between large platelets of chemically modified graphene, or CMG. The electrode has a high capacity of approximately 600 miliampere-hours per gram — 400 miliampere-hours per cubic centimeter — that is derived from silicon oxycarbide. The paperlike design is made of 20 percent chemically modified graphene platelets.

"The paperlike design is markedly different from the electrodes used in present day batteries because it eliminates the metal foil support and polymeric glue — both of which do not contribute toward capacity of the battery," Singh said.

Source: Kansas State University: Mechanical engineer builds 'ready-to-go' battery electrode with glass-ceramic

They essential super heated the silicon until it burned and self crumpled into a 3D lattice. The stuff not burned falls out leaving a structure for the graphene The silicon oxycarbide, right now, is by-product of making resin!

Further on in the same news bulletin ...

Moving forward, Singh and his team want to address practical challenges. Singh's goal is to produce this electrode material at even larger dimensions.
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"Ultimately, we would like to work with industry to explore production of lithium-ion battery full-cells," Singh said. "Silicon oxycarbide can also be prepared by 3-D printing, which is another area of interest to us."

So the theory has been demonstrated yet again! After more testing (strength, scalability) the actual making for the "real world" will start. I one day hope to stop posting more "in the lab" updates here!

Seriously, for two days there were absolutely no stories on graphene. Today it is like, "blam!" time to make up for lost time. But this one is a whopper!

About a year ago, a team of material specialists from the Imperial College in London already proved that graphene can be 3D printed. The question now is: do those amazing properties add more to 3D printing applications? Versarien and E3D Online Ltd will now be looking to find an answer and take that technology out of the laboratories. “This is one of a number of graphene applications we are investigating and is an example of graphene moving from the lab to the real world,” said Versarien’s chief executive Neil Ricketts.
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Versarien PLC is a material expert that specializes in applying proprietary technology on innovative game-changing engineering solutions, for a variety of sectors. E3D Online, of course, is one of the leading developers of hotends.

Source: 3ders.org Versarien PLC and E3D Online start graphene 3D printing trials

It is more of a business story but 3D printed graphene? That has all kind of applications and is welcome news.

Sorry this is not new but smehow I missed this one

A wire made from tiny cylinders of carbon known as carbon nanotubes can produce an electrical current when it is progressively heated from one end to the other, for example by coating it with a combustible material and then lighting one end to let it burn like a fuse.
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Basically, the effect arises as a pulse of heat pushes electrons through the bundle of carbon nanotubes, carrying the electrons with it like a bunch of surfers riding a wave.
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While the initial experiments had used potentially explosive materials to generate the pulse of heat that drives the reaction, the new work uses a much more benign fuel: sucrose, otherwise known as ordinary table sugar. But the team believes that other combustion materials have the potential to generate even higher efficiencies. Unlike other technologies that are specific to a particular chemical formulation, the carbon nanotube-based power system works just on heat, so as better heat sources are developed they could simply be swapped into a system to improve its performance

Source: March 15, 2016, theenergycollective.com: MIT Develops Nontoxic Way of Generating Portable Power

Because graphene is a great conductor the 'free' electrons rides the surface forward to the other side (their fuse analogy). The team lit an LED bulb as demonstration! Combined with the cutting of graphene sheets or tubes they can make whole 'fuse packs'! And if sealed correctly it would have an indefinite shelf life.

And this one sounds like an April Fool's joke but is not (I think)

[Graphene] conducts electricity and is rich in electrons that can move freely across the entire layer (delocalized). In aqueous solution, graphene can bind positively charged ions with its electrons (Lewis acid-base interaction).
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This phenomenon inspired researchers [to] use graphene electrodes to obtain power from the impact of raindrops. Raindrops are not pure water. They contain salts that dissociate into positive and negative ions. The positively charged ions, including sodium, calcium, and ammonium ions, can bind to the graphene surface. At the point of contact between the raindrop and the graphene, the water becomes enriched in positive ions and the graphene becomes enriched in delocalized electrons... The difference in potential... is sufficient to produce a voltage and current.

Source: Physics.org - Graphene layer could allow solar cells to generate power when it rains

The idea is to use this on solar cells so if it is raining you can still get electricity. So you can generate energy from graphene by either burning it or setting it out in the rain! "Give me electricity when the sun is shining or come h3ll or high water!"

Here is some cool news about next gen computing technology.

Graphene can used like a polarizing lens but with terahertz wavelength radiation!

[The research teams] discovered that graphene can filter out radiation in much the same way as polarized glasses. The vibration of radiation has an orientation. Like polarized glasses, their graphene-based microchip makes sure that radiation that only vibrates a certain way gets through. In this way, graphene is both transparent and opaque to radiation, depending on the orientation of vibration and signal direction. The EPFL scientists and their colleagues from Geneva used this property to create a device known as an optical isolator.
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[T]heir microchip works in a frequency band that is currently empty, called the Terahertz gap.
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The graphene-based microchip brings this Terahertz technology a step closer to reality

Full article at Physics.org - Graphene is both transparent and opaque to radiation

Bye-bye giga-hertz and hello terahertz! Everybody forgets about shielding until you are forced to deal with it. New terahertz microchips work great theoretically but will be better if actually demonstrated. Graphene steps in and provides an answer!

[ETA: Didn't realize this was known for a while! Check out the article and the "related links" section for a 2011 (!!) discovery about this very use. Looks like it really did take five years from discovery to demonstration!]

So as the guys in England fight it out with the Taiwan business man who claims he owns the patents to the graphene light blub (Article on SpectrumIEEE.org UK's National Graphene Institute in Revolt After Foreign Tech Grab comes news out of South Korea.

South Korea will move to start producing and selling products using graphene by as early as 2017, becoming one of the world’s first countries to commercialize the new advanced material, the government said Monday.
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“We expect to secure 85 key technologies related to graphene by 2020 through cooperation between the public and private sectors under the new plan,” the ministry said, noting it expects to see the first commercial product, an electromagnetic shield, in 2017.

Source: koreatimesus.com - S. Korea to develop, commercialize graphene by 2017

SK started a consortium ten years ago to research and develop graphene. This week the government made this announcement. Also from the article:

[The consortium] also has enough demand for the material in the mobile phone, display and secondary cell battery sectors"

Secondary battery, another competitor would be nice. Cell phones? That would great because who doesn't have one of those? The ones that get me are the shield (see the post directly above) and then displays.

Displays? Like the wrap around kind? Now that would be awesome!

Another step towards grapheme-based electronics!

[The research paper deomnstrates] the exciting idea of combining graphene with a photochromic molecular switch. Here the researchers found that an ideal molecule is 4-(decyloxy)azobenzene. This commercially available alkoxy-substituted azobenzene has a high affinity for the basal plane of graphene, thereby hindering inter-flake stacking. When exposed to UV light this azobenzene molecule switches from the trans to the cis isomer (with the cis isomer being considerably more bulky than the trans form). Importantly for the purpose of molecular switches this process is fully reversible by the simple exposure of the sample to white light.

By depositing the graphene-azobenzene hybrid ink onto a SiO2 substrate patterned with gold electrodes the authors made a light-modulated molecular switch. Because the trans to cis isomerisation is fully reversible by the simple application of white light, this molecular switch is also fully reversible which is a very important factor for creating optically controlled memories.
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“This paper essentially gives an additional remote control to a graphene-based electrical device simply by the exposure to light at specific wavelengths." says Prof. Samorì "This is the first step towards the development of graphene-based multicomponent materials and their use for the fabrication of multifunctional devices.”

Source: ScienceDaily - Graphene-based remote controlled molecular switches

Basal plane - Crystal structures have a primary axis. The basal plane is perpendicular to that plane. For 2D graphene that is a fancy way of saying the surface! : )
Photochromic means the substance is tuned to a specific frequency of light so that a sufficient strength exposure changes opacity (the “trans” to the “cis” isomer in the quote). You know, Transition lenses from your ophthalmologist? You step outdoors and your glasses go dark. Come inside and they are transparent. That is all that is meant there. (I get bored at the optometrist's office and wonder "how does that work" and usually end up with pages of google technobabble and have to make do on my own!) Yeah, I know, I am flying my nerd flag here!

To me it seems that this will be more sandwiched tech for graphene-based electronics. The idea here is a different spectrums for different switches spaced out through sandwiched materials. Or as they are thinking, for “optically controlled memories” with two different light sources, one for writing and one for erasing. As long as you do not do something stupid and open up your graphene-based memory and expose it to white light!

(does the air quote thing) Cool news (stops the Dr. Evil mimicry)

Other attempts at cooling electronics have been made with graphene, but this time the graphene can be attached directly to electronic components made of silicon.
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...[T]he amount of graphene needed to keep the electronics cool wouldn’t stick to the silicone.
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Through a series of experiments, the Chalmers research team found that an addition of (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) molecules solved the adhesion problem. When heated and put through hydrolysis, the molecule mixture creates so-called silane bonds between the graphene and the electronic component.

As an added bonus, the new mixture doubles the thermal conductivity of the graphene. With the next generation of computing systems, we might be able to cut energy usage in half and turn off our power-greedy cooling systems for good.

Source: GotScience.org Cooling Electronics with Graphene-based Film

Funny that graphene would not just stick to silicone but needed a chemical treatment to create a bond. But this is great news if applied to manufacturing electronics. The amount of heat generated in a datacenter is not something one usually thinks about but it is a lot. Maybe the entire effort can come full circle with "waste" heat being recaptured back to energy using graphene!

Here is a story about downhill skiers wearing graphene ski suits. Somehow I missed this. Dated, March 24, 2016.

At the FIS World Cup in St. Moritz this past weekend, the French team glided to a sweeping victory in both the Men’s and Ladies’ Giant Slalom wearing Directa Plus and Colmar’s range of graphene-enhanced ski suits. These suits are designed to significantly improve performance for the benefit of athletes, professionals and sports enthusiasts alike. This is the first time the graphene-enhanced ski suits have been worn in an international sporting competition.

Source: AZO Nano French Skiers Wearing Directa Plus and Colmar's Graphene-Enhanced Suits Win at FIS World Cup

The article continues:

Colmar and Directa Plus launched the G+ range at ISPO Munich in January, and the ski jackets are expected to be on the market by 2017. The range also includes technical underwear and a polo shirt.

Direct link: Directa Plus company site (produces the graphene)
And: Colmar (it is an Italian website) (makes the clothing)

So another outdoor/winter sport use (Lukla is mentioned several pages back--that one is made with aerogel). The Directa Plus website has several different G+ products. From Basic G+ to ultra hip sounding Dub-Masterplast G+ (which if you have been following this thread, you will know what "masterbatch" is!).

Not to be left out there are several smaller companies trying their hand at clothing/apparel.
Factionskis.com aerogel collection list: 499 $USD
Shivershield.com insulated jackets list: 399 - 429 $USD Men's and women's

But the real question is, "what the heck is 'technical underwear' and can I wear it on the outside of my clothes"?!!