Electronics - Page 12

An international team of scientists, led by Professor Monica Craciun from the University of Exeter's Engineering department, has reported a new technique to create fully electronic fibers that can be incorporated into the production of everyday clothing. The researchers believe that the discovery could revolutionize the creation of wearable electronic devices for use in a range of every day applications, as well as health monitoring, such as heart rates and blood pressure, and medical diagnostics.

Currently, wearable electronics are achieved by essentially gluing devices to fabrics, which can often mean they are too rigid and susceptible to malfunctioning. The new research avoids this by integrating the electronic devices into the fabric of the material, by coating electronic fibers with light-weight, durable components that will allow images to be shown directly on the fabric.

Researches from the University of California, Riverside and University of California, Los Angeles have demonstrated a novel above-IC graphene NEMS switches for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection applications.

This graphene ESD switch is a two-terminal device with a gap between the conducting substrate at the bottom and a suspended graphene membrane on top serving as the discharging path. This new concept provides a potentially revolutionary mechanism for the on-chip ESD protections.

Rice University scientists have developed a graphene-based epoxy for electronic applications. Epoxy combined with graphene foam invented in the Rice lab of Prof. James Tour) is reportedly substantially tougher than pure epoxy and far more conductive than other epoxy composites, while retaining the material's low density. It could improve upon epoxies in current use that weaken the material's structure with the addition of conductive fillers.

By itself, epoxy is an insulator, and is commonly used in coatings, adhesives, electronics, industrial tooling and structural composites. Metal or carbon fillers are often added for applications where conductivity is desired, like electromagnetic shielding. The trade-off, however, is that more filler brings better conductivity at the cost of weight and compressive strength, and the composite becomes harder to process. The Rice solution replaces metal or carbon powders with a 3D foam made of nanoscale sheets of graphene.

Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, will be presenting a paper focused on CMOS-compatible graphene interconnects next month at the world-renowned semiconductor-technology conference - the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (Dec. 1-5 in San Francisco).

The team has shown that integrating graphene into the interconnect scheme holds the promise of increasing performance and limiting power consumption in next-generation CMOS ICs, as graphene offers high conductivity and is not prone to electromigration.

A KAIST research team has developed a graphene-based hybrid storage device with power density 100 times faster than conventional batteries, allowing it to be charged within a few seconds. The team states that it could be suitable for small portable electronic devices.

Porous metal oxide nanoparticles formed on graphene in the aqueous hybrid capacitor. (Image: KAIST)

The researchers developed an aqueous hybrid capacitor (AHC) that boasts high energy density, high power, and excellent cycle stability by synthesizing two types of porous metal oxide nanoclusters on graphene to create positive and negative electrodes for AHCs.

The Industrial Technology and Science group in IBM Research-Brazil, along with other academic collaboration partners, has reportedly proven for the first time that it is possible to electrify graphene so that it deposits material at any desired location at a solid surface with an almost-perfect turnout of 97%. Using graphene in this way enables the integration of nanomaterials at wafer scale and with nanometer precision.

Artistic rendering of electric field-assisted placement of nanoscale materials between pairs of opposing graphene electrodes structured into a large graphene layer located on top of a solid substrate

Not only has this new work shown that it is possible to deposit material at a specific, nanoscale location, it was also reported that this can be done in parallel, at multiple deposition sites, meaning it’s possible to integrate nanomaterials at mass scale. This work has been patented.

Paragraf, the UK-based graphene technology development company, has announced the opening of an R&D facility in Cambridge. This follows the May 2018 announcement regarding seed investment of £2.9 million. The new site represents a turning point for graphene-based technologies, according to Paragraf, which it hopes will drive large-scale development of mass-market, graphene-based electronic devices.

Paragraf says its proprietary production technique overcomes the quality, contamination and reproducibility barriers faced by other graphene production methods. The customized equipment at the Cambridge facility will also allow Paragraf to convert its laboratory research into novel products, including next generation sensors, solid state electronics and energy storage cells.

Researchers at the University of Bristol are developing graphene-enabled ‘smart trousers’ with artificial ‘muscles’ which could help the elderly and disabled with their mobility.

The project, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), incorporates a number of technologies including smart electronics and graphene. Some items of clothing which make use of these, including a pair of ‘power trousers’, have already been demonstrated at the British Science Festival.

Researchers from the Regional Center of Advanced Technologies and Materials (RCPTM) at Palacký University in the Czech Republic, together with the colleagues from the Institute of Physics (FZU) of the Czech Academy of Science (CAS) and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry (IOCB) of the CAS, have designed a new way to control the electronic and magnetic properties of molecules.

Traditionally, such a change can be induced by application of external stimuli, such as light, temperature, pressure, and magnetic field. The Czech scientists have instead developed a way to use weak non-covalent interactions of molecules with the surface of chemically modified graphene.

The Graphene Flagship was launched in 2013 with the mission to take graphene and related layered materials from academic laboratories to the market, revolutionize multiple industries and create economic growth and new jobs in Europe. Five years later, the Flagship consortium has reported that it successfully completed the Core1 phase and is progressing towards more applied phases. It is reportedly on its way to achieving its objective of developing the high potential of graphene and related 2D materials to the point of having a dramatic impact on multiple industries.

The Reviewing Panel thoroughly examined the results obtained in this Core1 phase and concluded that for many topics, there has been a clear transformation of the activities, moving from individual research projects to genuine collaboration towards larger goals exactly what a Flagship project should aim for. Nearly all milestones and key performance indicators have been met, often exceeding expectations. There are numerous examples of significant scientific and/or technological achievements, with clear progress beyond the state of the art. The Work package on Photonics and Optoelectronics led by ICREA Prof. at ICFO Frank Koppens was recognized as one of the closest to being brought into industrial exploitation due to its significant potential for both scientific breakthrough and innovation.