The exponential growth rates of population density and the worldwide economy has required a significant investment in energy storage devices, particularly those which are portable and can be used for future flexible electronics.
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As attention continues to be drawn on the superior properties exhibited by graphene, Researchers from around the world continue to work towards emulating this thin and intrinsic design with other potentially useful materials. In their own quest to develop thin and electrically conductive sheets for future electronic device applications, a group of Researchers led by Raymond McQuaid, Amit Kumar and Marty Gregg from Queens University have developed “domain walls” that exist within crystalline materials.
The structure of graphene is comprised of a single thin layered sheet of tightly packed carbon atoms arranged in the vertices of a hexagonal lattice resembling honey comb.
Graphite, on the other hand, is made up of several layers of graphene stacked on top of each other with an inter-planar distance of 0.335 nm between the subsequent layers. Graphene is the thinnest single atom-thick material known to man, it is extremely lightweight weighing only 0.77 mg per square meter. Despite its light weight, graphene is 100 – 300 times stronger than steel with a tensile stiffness of 150,000,000 psi.
Graphene and CNT applications within the advanced composites sector are still at a relatively early stage of the commercialization process, but as the availability of materials or dispersions of consistent quality has increased, a number of composite materials and components are starting to incorporate these nanomaterials.
Dr. Zina Jarrahi Cinker, Executive Director of the National Graphene Association (NGA), talks to AZoNano about the current state of the graphene market and how global standards can help sercure the materials future.
Tuneable pressure effects associated with changing interlayer distances in two-dimensional graphene oxide (GO)/reduced GO (rGO) layers are demonstrated through monitoring the changes in the spin-crossover (SCO) temperature (T1/2) of [Fe(Htrz)2(trz)](BF4) nanoparticles (NPs) incorporated in the interlayer spaces of the GO/rGO layers. The interlayer separation along the GO to GO/rGO-NP composites to rGO series decreases smoothly from 9.00 Å (for GO) to 3.50 Å (for rGO) as the temperature employed for the thermal reduction treatments of the GO-NP composites is increased. At the same time, T1/2 increases from 351 K to 362 K along the series. This T1/2 increment of 11 K corresponds to that observed for pristine [Fe(Htrz)2(trz)](BF4) NPs under a hydrostatic pressure of 38 MPa. The influence of the stacked layer structures on the pseudo-pressure effects has been further probed by investigating the differences in T1/2 for [Fe(Htrz)2(trz)](BF4) that is present in the composite as larger bulk particles rather than as NPs.
The extraordinary electronic, optical and mechanical properties of graphene are well known, but various chemical modifications must be made if the material is to find application in electronic devices. Speaking at the 4th International Conference on Advanced Graphene Materials at AEM2017, Monica Craciun of the University of Exeter described her group’s work with fluorinated graphene and “GraphExeter”, a few-layer form intercalated with ferric chloride (FeCl3).
Graphene and its analogues are potential candidates in various applications, such as photovoltaics, catalysis, fuel cells, sensors, and batteries. But a detailed understanding of graphene needs accurate surface characterization. And this can only be provided through advancements in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) instrumentation.
Controlling electronic current is essential to modern electronics, as data and signals are transferred by streams of electrons which are controlled at high speed. Demands on transmission speeds are also increasing as technology develops. Scientists from the Chair of Laser Physics and the Chair of Applied Physics at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have succeeded in switching on a current with a desired direction in graphene using a single laser pulse within a femtosecond ¬¬ – a femtosecond corresponds to the millionth part of a billionth of a second. This is more than a thousand times faster compared to the most efficient transistors today.
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” wrote Benjamin Franklin in 1789. To that we might add: corrosion.
The inevitable march of destruction suffered by materials exposed to the environment has been vexing metallurgists and material scientists at least since ancient Rome, when Pliny the Elder wrote at length about “ferrum corrumpitur,” spoiled iron. Corrosion comes in many guises; rust is the best known.