12
June 2012
physicsworld.com
Applications
Physics World Focus on: Nanotechnology
tions such as medical imaging and security
screening (Nature Nanotechnology 10.1038/
nnano.2011.146).
Terahertz radiation is useful for detect-
ing items such as concealed weapons and
explosives because it passes through cloth-
ing and packaging but is strongly absorbed
by metals and other inorganic substances.
Feng Wang and colleagues say that they
have made the “beginnings of a toolset” for
experiments in this wavelength range. The
team has come up with a prototype device
that consists of an array of graphene nano-
ribbons with a response to terahertz radia-
tion that can be tuned by varying the width
of the ribbons and the number of charge car-
riers (electrons and holes) in the structures.
In graphene, the concentration of charge
carriers can easily be increased or decreased
by applying a strong electric field – a tech-
nique known as electrostatic doping.
Build better electronics
Graphene could be ideal for use in future
electronics applications because electrons
whizz through the material at extremely
high speeds (thanks to the fact that they
behave like relativistic particles with no rest
mass). Recently, a new method to increase
the amount of current that can be carried
by graphene has been unveiled by research-
ers at the University of California, River-
side (UCR) and the Argonne National Lab
(Nano Lett. 10.1021/nl204545q).
The technique involves growing or trans-
ferring graphene on synthetic diamond or
ultrananocrystalline diamond rather than
on a conventional silicon-dioxide substrate.
Diamond conducts heat better than silicon
or silicon dioxide, removing more heat away
from the graphene, which in turn means
that the wonder material can sustain even
higher current densities.
Alexander Balandin and Anirudha
Sumant, working together with electrical-
engineering graduate students in Bal-
andin’s lab at UCR, have shown that the
current-carrying capacity of graphene
can be increased to as high as around
20 µA/nm
2
by replacing the silicon diox-
ide with synthetic diamond or inexpensive
ultrananocrystalline diamond.
The work could help to develop high-
frequency transistors, transparent elec-
trodes and interconnects for replacing
copper on silicon dioxide.
Ramp up the performance of
supercapacitors and batteries
A new and simple “dipping” technique
that significantly improves the specific
capacitance and rate capability of metal-
oxide-based supercapacitors has been
demonstrated by researchers at Stanford
University in the US (Nano Lett. 10.1021/
nl2026635).
The technique, developed by Zhenan
Bao, Yi Cui and colleagues, involves dip-
ping a composite electrode made of gra-
phene/manganese-oxide into a solution
containing either carbon nanotubes (CNTs)
or a conductive polymer. The CNTs or poly-
mer coat the electrode and greatly improve
its electrical conductivity, so enhancing its
specific capacitance (or its ability to store
charge) by more than 20% for the CNT
coating and 45% for the polymer.
Dubbed “conductive wrapping”, the
method could be applied to a range of
high-density but insulating electrode mate-
rials. It may even be used to improve next-
generation lithium-ion battery electrodes
made from sulphur, lithium manganese
phosphate and silicon.
As well as having high specific capacitance,
the hybrid electrodes also show good rate
capability. They can be used over more than
3000 charge–discharge cycles while retain-
ing more than 95% of their capacitance.
Design new types of batteries
Researchers at Hong Kong Polytechnic
University claim to have invented a new
kind of graphene-based “battery” that
runs solely on ambient heat. The device
is said to capture the thermal energy of
ions in a solution and convert it into elec-
tricity. The results are in the process of
being peer reviewed, but, if confirmed,
such a device might find use in a range of
applications, including powering artificial
organs from body heat, generating renew-
able energy and running electronic devices
(arXiv:1203.0161).
Zihan Xu and colleagues made their bat-
tery by attaching silver and gold electrodes
to a strip of graphene. In their experiments,
the researchers showed that six of these
devices in series placed in a solution of
copper-chloride ions produced a voltage of
more than 2 V – enough to drive a commer-
cial red light-emitting diode.
Kill E . coli
Graphene could be used to make antibacte-
rial paper, according to work by scientists at
the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shang-
hai, who have found that sheets of the mate-
rial effectively stop the growth of E. coli
bacteria without being toxic to human cells.
“Ultimately, we would like to develop new
antibacterial materials from graphene that
could be directly applied onto skin to aid
in wound healing,” says Chunhai Fan (ACS
Nano 10.1021/nn101097v).
Print electronic devices
Researchers at the University of Cambridge
in the UK have invented a new ink based
on graphene, which they have used to print
high- performance, transparent, thin-film
transistors and interconnects. The work
could lead to graphene-based flexible
displays, solar cells and electronic paper
(arXiv:1111.4970).
To make the ink, the scientists begin by
treating graphite flakes in a sonic bath con-
taining the solvent N-methylpyrrolidone
for several hours. The flakes are then left
to settle for a few minutes after sonication.
Next, the team decants the dispersions and
centrifuges the samples for an hour to filter
out any flakes bigger than 1 µm across that
might clog the printer nozzle.
The ink suits a variety of substrates,
including silicon dioxide and quartz.
Soak up arsenic
A composite material made from reduced
graphene oxide (RGO) and magnetite could
effectively remove arsenic from drinking
water, according to work done in South
Korea (ACS Nano 10.1021/nn1008897).
The purification process is initiated by
dispersing the magnetite–RGO composite
in water, where the material soaks up arse-
nic. Thanks to the presence of the mag-
netite, the composite can be quickly and
efficiently extracted from the water using a
permanent magnet.
The contribution of the graphene
flakes is to increase the number of arsenic
adsorption sites.
Improve electron sources
Few-layer graphene (FLG) has exceptional
physical and chemical properties and is con-
sidered as a type of field-emission material
thanks to its thin edges. However, to achieve
a large field-enhancement factor, the gra-
phene sheets must be grown vertical to the
substrate rather than in the horizontal con-
figuration that is typical of most synthesis
methods (Nanotechnology 23 015202).
One approach, as demonstrated by scien-
tists in China, is to use microwave plasma-
enhanced chemical vapour deposition
(MPECVD). The team from Sun Yat-sen
University has synthesized FLG in a vertical
growth direction, and shaped the material by
adjusting the growth time and ratio of hydro-
carbon gas. Potential applications include
high-power vacuum electron sources.
High-performance coating Graphene/manganese
elec trodes dipped into a car bon - nanotube solution.
G Yu, St anford Universi ty
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