Sungkyunkwan University

Researchers from South-Korea's Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, Yeungnam University, Konkuk University and University of Seoul have proposed a simple strategy for the fabrication of mesoporous graphene with applications in high-performance energy storage systems like electric double-layer supercapacitors (EDLCs).

Conventional energy storage systems made of activated carbons (ACs) tend to have a poor power density due to the insufficient specific contact area, leading to inadequate creation of an electric double layer between electrode material and electrolyte. Therefore, an active material with a high specific contact area could help obtain high energy densities and meet the needs of various energy storage systems. Graphene's remarkable electrical conductance naturally makes it a logical candidate, but the high van der Waals contact between the graphene sheets makes stacking unavoidable, producing a limited available surface area. 

A research team from the South Korean Sungkyunkwan University has developed a technology that can control graphene electronic device through static electricity. The team has developed a gate that utilizes the graphene electrostatic phenomenon; Static electricity that occurs from friction is trapped inside of a lower board and serves as a gate. Unlike current materials, formation, modification, and elimination are said to be possible with this technology.

The team aims to make the process that forms a gate which will control current from an electronic device unnecessary. As a result, integration with high density should be possible and it is expected that this technology will reduce cost and time to manufacture electronic devices.

Researchers at the Korean IBS, in collaboration with Sungkyunkwan University, have designed a novel graphene-based stretchable and flexible memory device for wearable electronics.

The team has constructed a memory called two-terminal tunnelling random access memory (TRAM), where two electrodes, referred to as drain and source, resemble the two communicating neurons of the synapse in the brain. While mainstream mobile electronics use the so-called three-terminal flash memory, the advantage of two-terminal memories like TRAM is that two-terminal memories do not need a thick and rigid oxide layer. While Flash memory is more reliable and has better performance, TRAM is more flexible and can be scalable, according to the team.

Researchers at Sungkyunkwan University and the Institute for Basic Science in Suwon, South Korea have designed a new method for opening up a band gap in graphene to allow the construction of graphene-based transistors.

In this study, the scientists have opened a band gap in graphene by carefully doping both sides of bilayer graphene in a way that avoids creating disorder in the graphene structure. Delicately opening up a band gap in graphene in this way enabled the researchers to fabricate a graphene-based memory transistor with the highest initial program/erase current ratio reported to date for a graphene transistor (34.5 compared to 4), along with the highest on/off ratio for a device of its kind (76.1 compared to 26), while maintaining graphene's naturally high electron mobility (3100 cm2/V·s).

An international team of researchers from the Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Department of Energy Science at Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea, has devised a new technique for creating a graphene-based MSC (solid-state micro-supercapacitor) that is said to deliver improved electrochemical performance, with a design based on the intricate design of leaves.

The team designed their MSC film structure in compliance with vein-textured leaves in order to take advantage of the natural transport pathways which enable efficient ion diffusion parallel to the graphene planes found within them. To create this efficient shape, the team layered a graphene-hybrid film with copper hydroxide nanowires. After many alternating layers they achieved the desired thickness, and added an acid solution to dissolve the nanowires so that a thin film with nano-impressions was all that remained.

Researchers from the Korean Sungkyunkwan University announced the development of a sponge-like electrode material using graphene and a polymer that enables the assembly of a light and efficient graphene battery.

The electrode was made from porous graphene aerogel that was a result of combining alcohol and graphene. The graphene aerogel electrode material is easily compressed and highly durable, with about 90-99.9 percent of it filled with air and pores smaller than 100 nanometers that form a 3D web.

Smithers Apex announced the speakers for the first Graphene World Summit, a graphene-focused event that will take place September 15-16 in Kerkeley, California. The speaker list is quite impressive - and it includes IBM, Argonne National Laboratory, Applied Graphene Materials, Grafoid, Bluestone Global Tech, Cambridge Graphene Center, Cientifica, Graphene Frontiers, Graphene Technologies, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Graphenea, Strategic News Service, XG Sciences, Raytheon and more.

The summit will focus on bringing together the scientific and business communities. Planned sessions at event include the global path to standardization, innovation and commercialization; investment strategies; material development and production case studies; and game-changing applications and commercialization success stories.

Researchers from Korea's Sungkyunkwan developed new supercapacitors that can charge 1000 times faster than current graphene supercapacitors, while also having three times the energy capacity. To achieve this fast charge (and discharge) times,t he researchers used vertically aligning graphene oxide flakes.

The researchers created a graphene oxide film using a carbon nanotube, and then used cutting and heat treatment to develop the vertically-structured graphene electrodes. The researchers also inserted a VNT into the GO sheets and created regular patterned pores in the GO films. All this resulting in electrodes that is much faster than solid and vertically-structured graphene used in existing supercapacitors.

Samsung announced that they developed a breakthrough large-area graphene synthesis process. The company says this is one of the most significant breakthroughs in graphene research ever, and they expect this new technique to accelerate graphene commercialization towards applications in electronics.

This process was discovered by researchers at Samsung's Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) in collaboration with Sungkyunkwan University. The process can be used to grow single crystal graphene on the current semiconductor wafer scale while maintaining graphene's electric and mechanical properties.

Researchers from Korea's Sungkyunkwan University vertically integrated ZnO nanowires on graphene foams (3D graphene) and used this as electrodes for Parkinson's disease detection - to selectively detect uric acid (UA), dopamine (DA), and ascorbic acid (AA) by a differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) method.

The researchers explain that their electrode is optimized as it has a large surface area with mesoporous 3D graphene structures that facilitate ion diffusion easily. It also features high conductivity from the 3D graphene foam and high selectivity due to the active sites of the ZnO surface.