Oxford University researchers have developed a method for producing graphene in large high-quality sheets. The university's technology commercialization branch, Isis Innovation, states that the researchers had solved a major barrier to the development of the material, making commercial-scale sheets of repeatable and uniform quality graphene ready for production.
The technique, currently in the process of patent application, enables the manufacture of commercial scale graphene sheets using a transition metal substrate combined with an intermediate silicon containing liquid film. The graphene sheets are made using CVD and large, high-quality graphene flakes are produced. Synthesis times are reduced by 50 times, according to Isis, adding that it was looking for commercial partners.
The researchers believe that this method is the "fastest way for commercial adoption of the new materials and more specifically nanomaterials, such as graphene".
In 2013, Oxford scientists found a way to grow defect-free graphene using CVD.