Graphene: Unravelling the secrets of a magic material
October 15, 2009
Image: the islands of carbon form geodesic dome-like structures resembling Cornwall's Eden Project
UCL researchers are helping to unlock the secrets of a material that could ultimately be used in a new generation of electronic devices.
Graphene is a sheet of carbon just one atom thick - the thinnest known material in the universe and the strongest ever measured.
It is 200 times stronger than steel and can carry one million times more electricity than copper.
These properties give graphene a number of potential new applications, such as its use in the circuitry of faster computers or more powerful mobile phones, but graphene sheets are difficult and expensive to produce.
Professor Dario Alfč and Dr Monica Pozzo (UCL Earth Sciences) are part of a group trying to understand and characterise the mechanisms for the growth of graphene for one particular method of production.
The method, known as Chemical Vapour Decomposition, involves sending hydrocarbon molecules to an iridium surface that is heated between room temperature and 1000 degrees.
When they hit the surface these molecules loose their hydrogen atoms, which fly into space, leaving the remaining carbon atoms sticking to the iridium, where they start to self-assemble in small ‘nano-structures’. The nano-structures eventually develop into fully formed graphene sheets.
Professor Alfč, Dr Pozzo and their colleagues led by Dr Alessandro Baraldi and Dr Silvano Lizzit at ELETTRA, the Synchrotron light laboratory in Trieste, Italy, have begun to unravel how that process takes place, and thus how it might be controlled.
Professor Alfč said: “This method to grow graphene is well known; however, the mechanism that takes us from a carbon-covered surface to the formation of a fully formed graphene sheet is yet to be understood.
“We discovered that the growth of graphene starts with the formation of small islands of carbon with an unusual dome structure, in which only the atoms at the perimeter are bound to the iridium substrate while the central atoms detach from it, making the island bulge upwards at the centre.
“The structure resembles that of the Eden Project building in Cornwall. We also found that the size of these ‘geodesic nanodomes’ depended on the temperature of the iridium substrate, and the manipulation procedure, suggesting possible routes to control the size of graphene sheets at the nanoscale.
“These could be used in the future as building blocks for new generation electronic circuits, for example to make much faster computers, or mobile phones sending data at much higher rates.”
-
Growing geodesic carbon nanodomes
Oct 12, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
A Smarter Way to Grow Graphene
May 14, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Light-speed nanotech: Controlling the nature of graphene
Jan 21, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Simulations may explain nanoparticles 'pinned' to graphene
Apr 24, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Super-thin carbon sheets poised to revolutionize electronics
Mar 02, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (31) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
polymer nanocomposites
Feb 10, 2012
-
Corrosion Tests on Magnesium
Feb 09, 2012
-
polyethylene copper nanocomposite
Feb 09, 2012
-
Output of xrd analysis
Feb 08, 2012
-
Transport phenomena problem based on problems 18.B11 and 19B.6 from Bird, stewart, lw
Feb 06, 2012
-
Help with material selection - Car Piston
Feb 05, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Materials & Chemical Engineering
More news stories
New kind of solar cell could capture significantly more energy than current cells
New solar cells could increase the maximum efficiency of solar panels by over 25%, according to scientists from the University of Cambridge.
Feb 08, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (12) |
14
|
Nanoshell whispering galleries improve thin solar panels
Visitors to Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol Building may have experienced a curious acoustic feature that allows a person to whisper softly at one side of the cavernous, half-domed room and for another on ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Feb 07, 2012 |
4.3 / 5 (6) |
6
|
'Dark plasmons' transmit energy
Microscopic channels of gold nanoparticles have the ability to transmit electromagnetic energy that starts as light and propagates via "dark plasmons," according to researchers at Rice University.
Feb 09, 2012 |
4.8 / 5 (9) |
1
|
Revealing how a battery material works
Since its discovery 15 years ago, lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) has become one of the most promising materials for rechargeable batteries because of its stability, durability, safety and ability to deliver ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Feb 08, 2012 |
5 / 5 (5) |
0
|
Harnessing plasmonics, engineers weld nanowires with light
At the nano level, researchers at Stanford have discovered a new way to weld together meshes of tiny wires. Their work could lead to exciting new electronics and solar applications. To succeed, they called ...
Feb 06, 2012 |
4.8 / 5 (11) |
1
|
Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon
(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...
Latin America mining boom clashes with conservation
Latin America is experiencing a mining boom as prices rise fuelled by a hike in global demand, but the region is also being hit by a wave of violent protests, strikes and rallies by environmentalists.
Love a click away in Indonesia's Twitter Republic
He was a geeky kid from Yogyakarta, she a glamorous city girl in Jakarta. In a country with one of the world's most vibrant social networking scenes they fell in love on Twitter.
Europeans protest controversial Internet pact
Tens of thousands of people marched in protests in more than a dozen European cities Saturday against a controversial anti-online piracy pact that critics say could curtail Internet freedom.
Walney offshore wind farm is world's biggest (for now)
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Walney wind farm on the Irish Sea--characterized by high tides, waves and windy weather--officially opened this week. The farm is treated in the press as a very big deal as the Walney ...
Navy to begin tests on electromagnetic railgun prototype launcher
The Office of Naval Research (ONR)'s Electromagnetic (EM) Railgun program will take an important step forward in the coming weeks when the first industry railgun prototype launcher is tested at a facility ...
Oct 15, 2009
Rank: not rated yet
imho it's "deposition"
but since it looks british, is this their translation of it? much like "responsibility" in AEnglish is "liability" for French.
Oct 15, 2009
Rank: not rated yet
Oct 16, 2009
Rank: not rated yet
The description of decomposition appears to be correct if we understand that decomposition means to break up or disintegrate, which is what occurs when the hydrogen atoms are driven out of the molecule which allows the carbon residue to deposit on the iridium surface.
Of course decompose has its own french origins and the meaning is the same in both French and English.
But if this was an exercise in pedantry then it was rather futile and non constructive. Pedant also has French origins and the meanings are consistent in both languages. I fail to see the relevance in any words origin and or the consistency of meaning across languages with respect to the work being reported on. The explanation made the process that was being described clear.
"Birthmark's" question was far more relevant.
An estimate of time to market would be of interest.
Oct 17, 2009
Rank: not rated yet
Despite the coolness of spraying hydrocarbons on iridium and getting graphene, when you're thirsty it's better to pour a glass of water than open your mouth in a rainstorm.
Oct 18, 2009
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Oct 19, 2009
Rank: not rated yet
Oct 19, 2009
Rank: not rated yet
Oct 19, 2009
Rank: not rated yet
I can't believe how the vast majority of the people on the internet don't understand lose vs loose. Lose = loss of something, loose = not tight. Pretty soon this mixup is going to become the new standard, like how "lol" is turning into its own word.
On a more related note, as people have noted above it is in fact "Chemical Vapor Deposition" not decomposition. Hopefully both of these were typos.