ORNL’s ultrastrong graphene features layers of graphene and polymers and is an effective conductor of electricity. (Image courtesy ORNL)
One of the barriers to using graphene at a commercial scale could be overcome using a method demonstrated by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Graphene, a material stronger and stiffer than carbon fiber, has enormous commercial potential but has been impractical to employ on a large scale, with researchers limited to using small flakes of the material.
Now, using chemical vapor deposition, a team led by ORNL’s Ivan Vlassiouk has fabricated polymer composites containing 2-inch-by-2-inch sheets of the one-atom thick hexagonally arranged carbon atoms.
The findings, reported in the journal Applied Materials & Interfaces, could help usher in a new era in flexible electronics and change the way this reinforcing material is viewed and ultimately used. [Read more…]
