. Graphene production can now be much cheaper, claim scientists at the University of Glasgow. They were able to make large areas of graphene less expensive than ever before. These new technologies could be commercially viable and can potentially change the lives for people who have limb prostheses. Scientists consider graphene a marvel material, having been first extracted from graphite at 2004,. It has a thin, single-atom thickness, is flexible and 207 stronger than steel and can conduct heat and electricity efficiently. However, graphene’s high cost of production limits its industrial use. Graphene could still be utilized in many industries, as well as medical applications, if its production costs can be reduced. For example, it could be used in the production of synthetic skin, which would give patients using limb prostheses sensory feedback. Graphene is a 1 atom thick, virtually 2-D material that’s 207 more durable than steel. The University of Glasgow School of Engineering’s Dr. Ravinder Dhiya is the team leader and his colleagues described in Scientific Reports, how large sheets of graphene could be made using cheap copper, which was used to make lithium-ion battery packs in household appliances. Graphene production is now one-hundredth cheaper according to scientists. Chemical vapour deposition is a method that produces graphene. This converts gases into a graphene layer on a substrate. Dr. Dahiya and team used a similar process to make high-quality graphene across the surface of commercially-available copper foils of the kind frequently used as the negative electrodes in lithium-ion batteries. The super-smooth copper surface made it an ideal substrate for graphene formation. They also discovered that transistors made with their graphene had a significantly better electrical and optical performance than similar materials produced by the older process. If graphene is commercially viable, it could be used for the creation of synthetic skin. This would allow people to better control prosthetic limbs. Top-quality graphene at low cost Dr. Dahiya said: “The commercially-available copper we used in our process retails for around one dollar per square metre, compared to around $115 for a similar amount of the copper currently used in graphene production. The more costly form of copper required additional preparation, increasing the overall cost. Graphene may be able to provide a flexible, conductive surface that could allow people to experience sensations in a way not possible for the best prosthetics. The researchers described their findings as’very exciting,’ and they hope to carry on their work. This research was carried out by University of Glasgow researchers and colleagues at Bilkent University, Turkey. This research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Council, (EPSRC), and the European Commission. Citation: Synthesis of large-area graphene for high performance in flexible optoelectronic devices,” Emre O. Polat. Osman Balci. Nurbek Kakenov. Hasan Burkay Uzlu. Coskun Kocabas & Ravinder Dahiya. Scientific Reports. 18 November, 2015. DOI: 10.1038/srep16744. Video: What is graphene, and how can it be used? The University of Manchester created this animation and Dr. Sarah Haigh narrates the story.
