PlanarTech is now offering graphene samples and Korean-made thermal CVD equipment. PlanarTech is targeting corporate and academic R&D labs.
Its graphene samples include graphene on copper foil, SiO2, PET, PI, glass and other substrates, graphene on UV tape, large-area single-crystal graphene and other custom samples.
Researchers from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and the University of Wuppertal (BUW) say that graphene can be used to develop hyperlens able to work in the terahertz range. Fabricating hyperlens able to capture teraherz waves is very challenging, because the lens must behave as a metal in one direction and an insulator in the other direction. Metals can be used (this has been experimentally shown) but then the device cannot be tunable.
Graphene, however, can easily change its properties using electrostatic fields, magnetic fields or chemical doping. The researchers suggest using narrow (starting from 40 nm) tapered graphene wires embedded into polymer. This achieves the very properties needed for hyperbolic dispersion - the wave "feels" it as metal along the wires and as dielectric perpendicular to the wires. The hyperlens can be tuned by applying voltage to the various graphene layers, and can be used not only to image, but also to concentrate terahertz radiation in small volumes.
Researchers from Monash University and Rice University developed a thin graphene film anti-corrosion coating. Their new coating can maker copper more resistant to corrosion - almost 100 times better than uncoated copper. According to the researchers, that's the best graphene-based anti-corrosion material developed yet.
The researchers are now looking at different metals to coat, and are also investigating ways of applying the coating at lower temperatures (currently they use CVD at temperatures between 800 and 900 degrees).
BASF and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P)'s joint R&D operation, the Carbon Materials Innovation Center (CMIC) is now open at BASF’s Ludwigshafen site. The center hosts twelve chemists, physicists and material scientists and its goal is to research the scientific principles and potential applications of innovative carbonized materials by synthesizing and characterizing new materials and evaluating their potential uses in energy and electronic applications.
BASF and the MPI has been jointly researching graphene since 2008, and the new center is the next step in their collaboration, although it will research other materials as well. They have invested €10 million in this project, which is scheduled to run for three years initially.
Researchers from the University of Arkansas released a study that has some new insights into how graphene-metal junctions work. Specifically, they show how the graphene-metal interface affect the movement of electrons through two-terminal junctions.
The researchers say that when you form covalent bonds (by attaching the transition metals to graphene) you destroy the unique electronic properties of graphene. The researchers say that their research does not use doped graphene, which is expected in real devices. They found that the electrons at these graphene-metal junctions behave much like a light beam does when it is shone on a crystal -- some of the light scatters and some of it goes through.
Last month we reported that the University of Manchester has started the formal tender process to choose a contractor to build the national Graphene Institute (NGI). This project's total cost is £61 million. The UK government approved a budget of £38 million, and today it is reported that the University is bidding for £28 million from the EU for the NGI (which strangely means that the total funds available will be £66 million.
The University has submitted an application to the European Regional Development Fund. The decision is due in December, and if approved the NGI will begin operation by March 2015.
Aixtron announced today that they have sold a new 4" BM Pro PECVD system for the Institute of Metal Research (IMR) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The IMR will use the system to produce carbon nanotubes and graphene. The order was placed in the first quarter of 2012 and the system will be delivered in the third quarter of 2012.
Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) developed a new way to grow gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanowires on graphene using molecular beam epitaxy. The new hybrid electrode material offers excellent optoelectronic properties.
The researchers have patented the new technology and established a new company to commercialize it called CrayoNano AS. According to the company the new technology can be easily be used with existing production equipment.
Researchers from the Texas Technical University demonstrated that uniform dispersion of TiO(2) on graphene is critical for the photocatalytic effect of the composite. The researchers used a hydrothermal method to synthesize TiO(2) nanowires (NW) and then fabricate graphene-TiO(2) nanowire nanocomposite (GNW).
The researchers found that by the composite graphene, GNP and TNW has a higher performance than each individual material. Nanowires were found to have more uniform dispersion on graphene with less agglomeration, resulting in more direct contact between the TiO(2) and graphene. This shows that the relative photocatalytic activity of GNW is much higher than GNP and pure NWs or Graphene-TiO(2) nanoparticle.
Researchers from the Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have shown that graphene can be used to create a superhydrophobic coating material that shows stable superhydrophobicity under both static as well as dynamic (droplet impact) conditions.
The researchers grew graphene over a nickel foam template which was then leeched away. The remaining graphene foam (layered graphene sheets) was coated with a Teflon layer. They say that the pore size and structure of the graphene foam can be uniformly tuned by selecting the appropriate nickel foam template.