Researchers at Rice University have created a thin coating of graphene nanoribbons in epoxy, that has proven effective at melting ice on a helicopter blade. This coating may be an effective real-time de-icing mechanism for aircraft, wind turbines, transmission lines and other surfaces exposed to cold weather. In addition, the coating may also help protect aircraft from lightning strikes and provide an extra layer of electromagnetic shielding.

The scientists performed tests in which they melted centimeter-thick ice from a static helicopter rotor blade in a -4 degree Fahrenheit environment. When a small voltage was applied, the coating delivered electrothermal heat - called Joule heating - to the surface, which melted the ice.

Researchers at the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology have managed to print graphene oxide onto different materials, including paper, and use it as a touch sensitive electronic device. They transferred graphene oxide coated on a wax printed membrane to paper, an adhesive film and even a t-shirt by simply using pressure and water, and also printed graphene oxide onto plastic and, as the oxide conducts electricity, used it as a touch sensitive LED switch.

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• Other promising 2D materials

Researchers at Japan's RIKEN have come up with a quick, efficient and potentially scalable way to produce large quantities of single-layer graphene by employing microwave radiation and a special ionic liquid solvent.

Recent recent efforts to manufacture graphene have focused on techniques involving liquid-phase exfoliation that mechanically agitate graphite particles dispersed in a solvent. However, this kind of physical shaking makes it difficult to produce structurally intact graphene sheets in high yields. Now, the RIKEN scientists have designed a method that activates graphite without mechanical force, that would give highly efficient exfoliation. They chose to irradiate graphite with microwaves because graphite is a good absorber of microwaves and releases heat after irradiation. 

Scientists at MIT have designed a way to manipulate electrons in graphene within the first few femtoseconds of photo-excitation. With this technique, the researchers can redirect high-energy electrons before they interact with other electrons in the material.

The University of Granada in Spain has launched the Graphene and 2D Semiconductors Laboratory, said to be one of the most complete public laboratories devoted to the manufacture and electric and structural characterization of graphene in Europe. This laboratory is supposedly comparable to that of the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) or the one in the University of Stanford (United States).

The new facilities are located in the UGR Research Centre for Information Technology and Communication. With an investment of more than half a million euros, the new laboratory is devoted to the manufacture of all kinds and forms of graphene as well as the development of new graphene-based systems for electronic applications which include biosensors, electronic nanodevices for IoT (Internet of Things) applications, and flexible electronics, in addition to wearable devices.

ICFO researchers have designed a novel type of hybrid system consisting of an on-chip graphene NEMS suspended a few tens of nanometres above nitrogen-vacancy centres (NVCs), which are stable, single-photon emitters embedded in nanodiamonds. The scientists state that this work has confirmed that graphene is an ideal platform for both nanophotonics and nanomechanics.

For their study, the researchers fabricated such an original hybrid device for the first time. Due to its electromechanical properties, graphene NEMS can be actuated and deflected electrostatically over few tens of nanometres with modest voltages applied to a gate electrode. The graphene motion can thus be used to modulate the light emission by the NVC, while the emitted field can be used as a universal probe of the graphene position. The optomechanical coupling between the graphene displacement and the NVC emission is based on near-field dipole-dipole interactions.

Researchers at Rice University and the State University of Campinas in Brazil have found that random molecules scattered within layers of otherwise pristine graphene affect how the layers interact with each other under strain. The researchers, with flexible electronics in mind, decided to see how graphene oxide paper would handle shear strain, in which the sheets are pulled by the ends. Such knowledge is important for applications involving novel advanced materials, especially for making 3D structures from 2D materials, and some applications may include sensors, electronics and biomedical devices. 

The University of Manchester and The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology declared a collaborative research program covering three innovative projects in graphene and 2D materials: composites, sensors and membranes.

The projects will be led by faculty members from both research institutions, and will respectively explore the development of novel low-density graphene-based foams for various engineering applications, inkjet-printed graphene micro-sensors for energy and defense applications, and graphene-enabled ion exchange membranes for desalination. 

Scientists from UCLA’s California NanoSystems Institute have designed an effective way to use graphene in order to place molecules specific patterns within tiny nanoelectronic devices, which could be useful in creating sensors that are even small enough to record brain signals.

This is done by using a sheet of graphene with minuscule holes in it that is then placed on a gold substrate. The holes allow molecules to attach to the gold exactly where the scientists want them, creating patterns that control the physical shape and electronic properties of devices that are 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.