Researchers have created a biocompatible graphene ink and used a home printer to make electronic components.
Scientists in Ireland have developed a new low-cost method of producing graphene that could speed up adoption of the strong yet light ‘wonder material’.
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin’s School of Physics and the Irish Science Foundation’s Advanced Materials Research Centre AMBER have collaborated with colleagues in the UK and Norway to develop a scalable method for graphene production.
Graphene is an atom-thick layer of carbon.It is considered the thinnest and strongest material in the world and has many potential applications due to its flexibility and conductivity.
In a study published in the journal Nature 2D Materials and Applications, the team created graphene inks and used a home inkjet printer to make conductive interconnects and anode composites for lithium-ion batteries.These could potentially be used to connect batteries to textile sensors that will find applications in areas such as wearable electronics and medical diagnostics.
“We have demonstrated energy storage composites and printed electronic components in our work, but graphene inks could enable many more applications, such as reinforcing composites or printing sensors,” said lead author Dr. Tian Carey.
Trinity nanoscientist Professor Jonathan Coleman has previously created nanocomposites of graphene and polymers, including polymers found in rubber bands and silly putty.Last year, his team created a graphene ink mixture with excellent mechanical and electrical properties, making it potential for wearable devices.
The latest research takes this graphene research further for industrial applications, and shows that “we can produce high-quality graphene in a low-cost, efficient, and easily scalable manner,” Coleman said.
Graphene production is known to have high start-up and labor costs.Using this new method, once scaled up, the cost could be reduced to £20 per litre, the researchers say.If successfully commercialized, this could lead to the production of multi-ton quantities, far exceeding the world’s current supply of graphene.
The study’s method is based on the exfoliation process of graphite – a rich bulk material commonly found in pencils – consisting of layers of graphene.
Together with researchers from the Cambridge Graphene Centre, Newcastle University and the University of Stavanger in Norway, the team discovered a process to exfoliate graphene flakes from graphite with the fewest defects.
Based on this method, the researchers were able to create high-quality graphene inks.The team also conducted tests to ensure that graphene is not toxic, as it could be used in wearable electronics, textile electronics, composites and printed interconnects that could involve human contact with the material.
“Graphene is just one example of a 2D conductive material; there are hundreds of lesser-known 2D materials with different but complementary electronic behaviors that we can apply and create a suite of different but complementary electronic behaviors. characteristic ink,” adds Carey.
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