June 2011

According to researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, a single layer of graphene may be used to create a thin metamaterial cover to suppress the scattering from a passive object. Graphene's unique features of ultra-high mobility and largely tunable Fermi level may naturally provide the required reactive properties in a single atomic layer. Graphene's effective surface impedance can be tuned (in real time) which makes dynamically tunable and switchable cloaking operation possible.

A graphene invisibility cloak will be the thinnest possible - a 2D sheet of atoms. It will operate in the THz spectrum.

Energy storage maker Maxwell Technologies said it received more than $500,000 in state and federal (US) funding for energy storage research and development programs. One of these programs is a testing and evaluation project of new graphene material produced by Nanotek Instruments. These testing are performed to determine how graphene might be used to increase the energy density of ultracapacitors.

The Royal Society in London will run a new Summer Science exhibition (in July 5th -10th) that will focus on Graphene. You'll be able to see Graphene under a microscope, create your own single layers of graphene (using a pencil and scotch tape). In Trafalgar Square, they'll setup some "Graphene games" - that you can download to your Android or iOS device...

Researchers from Europe developed a graphene-based device that can detect magnetic fields with a record sensitivity (down to the stray field of few magnetic molecules, better than the previous record of sensitivity by a factor of 100). The graphene was used like a spider web to chemically 'trap' the molecules and detect their magnetization at the same time. This new development may enable ultra-high density Spintronics memory and molecular sensors.

This device was built by depositing magnetic molecules on a graphene sheet. The molecules were synthesized so that they are suitable to graft the graphene lattice. The electrical measurements were performed at very low temperature (to limit the noise). The new device works pretty much like a spin valve, only it's much smaller.

Scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China in Heifei developed a simple and quick method of preparing "3D Graphene" in water - which they say can enhance Graphene so it is better suited to store hydrogen and act as a catalyst support in supercapacitors.

The scientists prepared the 3D graphene structures by self-assembly from graphene oxide using mild chemical reduction in water at 95 degrees Celsius (at atmospheric pressure) without stirring. The graphene shapes were controlled by using reactor vessels of differing shapes. The team were able to produce cylinder-, pear- and sphere-like shapes. The new materials features high electrical conductivity and high mechanical and thermal stability.

Foa Torres, a scientist from the National University of Córdoba in Argentina, says that Graphene's Achilles heel is the fact that it does not have a band gap. This means that Graphene cannot be 'turned-off', and so you can't use it for active electronic devices such as switches and transistors.

Foa Torres predicts that shining a mid-infrared laser on graphene can produce band gaps in its electronic structure, and this band gap could be tuned by controlling the laser polarization. The next crucial step is experimental verification.

Researchers from Northern Illinois University (NIU) discovered a simple method for producing high yields of graphene - by burning pure magnesium metal in dry ice. It is widely known that burning magnesium metal in carbon dioxide produces carbon. But using it to create graphene by placing it on dry ice is new. This method produces few-layer graphene and is simple, green and cost-effective.

A research team from UCLA announce they have developed a scalable approach to fabricate high-speed graphene transistors. Back in September 2010, this team developed 300Ghz graphene transistors, making them using a nanowire as the self-aligned gate.

The new approach uses a dielectrophoresis assembly approach to precisely place nanowire gate arrays on large-area chemical vapor depositiongrowth graphene (as opposed to mechanically peeled graphene flakes) to enable the rational fabrication of high-speed transistor arrays. This was made on a glass substrate. The new transistors have cut-off frequencies of over 50Ghz (typical graphene transistors made on silicon have cut-off frequencies of less then 10 Ghz).

Rigoberto Gobet Advincula, a polymer chemist from the University of Houston has developed two different materials that are both equally effective against E. coli. One of them is graphene based - which is proving to be an effective antimicrobial.

This is not the first time we hear that Graphene can be used against E. coli - back in 2010, researchers from Shanghai University has developed two water-based dispersible graphene derivatives (graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide) that can effectively inhibit the growth of E.coli and have minimal toxic effects on harming cells (cytotoxicity).

Graphene Laboratories and Thermo Scientific are offering a free 45-minute webinar on July 28 2011 (10 AM EST) for those interested in expanding their knowledge of how Raman Spectroscopy can be used for characterization of graphene at the laboratory or commercial production scale.

The webinar will introduce you to how Raman spectroscopy can help explore the properties of graphene materials. In particular, several significant applications of Raman spectroscopy will be discussed, including measuring thickness as well as monitoring chemical and physical properties of graphene films.