Posted by Marko Spasenovic on June 15, 2013 0 Comments
Graphenea has improved its graphene coverage and reduced the price per unit area with our new product: graphene on a 4" Si/SiO2 wafer. The graphene is a high-quality monolayer which covers the full 100mm diameter wafer. This large graphene on Si/SiO2 wafer keeps the uniformity and excellent quality of our graphene over the entire wafer.
For graphene growth we use our established CVD growth method that our customers can rely on, preserving the high mobility and low sheet resistance. Our CVD graphene is being used by leading research departments and labs around the world. Full specs can be found on the product page, where customers can also directly place their orders.
Graphenea continues to serve the community with high quality and low cost graphene for any purpose. Contact us in case your needs are not met by our extensive product catalogue!
Posted by Marko Spasenovic on June 07, 2013 0 Comments
The diverse beauty of graphene is coming to light through advanced applications as varied as fuel cells and light-emitting contact lenses.
Researchers from Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST) in Korea feature in both these recent achievements which caused much excitement in the graphene community. Graphene has been used as an electrode for fuel cells before, however the most recent demonstration is impressive in its performance and ease of manufacturing. A UNIST team led by Profs. Jong-Beam Baek and Noejung Park ball-milled commercial graphene nanoplatelets in the presence of various halogen elements, such as chlorine, bromine, or iodine. The milling separated the graphene sheets from each other at the edges of the nanoplatelet (nanoplatelets usually consist of multiple graphene sheets) and the halogen material creeped in between the graphene sheets. The result was a compound that acts as an excellent cathode for fuel cells, with better long-term stability than commercially available electrodes.
The same institute published a NanoLetter last week, from the team led by Jang-Ung Park, describing the making of a light-emitting diode (LED) fitted with a transparent electrode made of graphene and metal nanowires. The nanowires serve to connect patches of graphene that are often present in CVD grown graphene, thus improving its electrical conductivity. The hybrid material retains graphene's superb mechanical flexibility and strength, which was forcefully demonstrated by fitting the LED into a contact lens. The lens was placed into the eye of a rabbit, who wore it for five hours without any adverse effects. This research presents a breakthrough in wearable graphene devices, raising hopes that graphene will soon be closer to us than we ever would have thought.
The very same cracks and patches in graphene were previously theoretically predicted to severely reduce the mechanical strength of graphene, however researchers from Columbia saved the day by experimentally proving that graphene retains its amazing strength even with cracks and patches, which are naturally formed during growth. It seems that the culprit for the earlier observed weakness lay in the process of transfer from the copper growth substrate to another one. The Columbia team, led by Prof. James Hone, developed a more gentle graphene transfer procedure and published their paper in Science.
Again from East Asia comes an awesome demonstration of the abilities of graphene, this time in the field of photosensors. Researchers at Nanyang Technological University have shown a graphene photosensor which is 1000 times more sensitive than current imaging sensors used in cameras. That means that with such a sensor we would never need to use a camera flash again!
To end a summary of the past weeks' exciting discoveries, Wired magazine published a guide to making your own graphene. For high quality and large areas, we still recommend buying your graphene from Graphenea.
Posted by Marko Spasenovic on May 23, 2013 0 Comments
Graphenea is this month's "spotlight member" of the Graphene Stakeholders Association (GSA). The GSA is a non-profit organization established to promote the responsible development of graphene products. Graphenea CEO Jesus de la Fuente sits on the advisory board of the GSA.
Graphene is emerging as one of the most promising materials ever
discovered – one that has the potential to play a vital role in the
development of advanced technologies in key industry segments, including
computing, electronics, energy, defense, health care,
telecommunications, and transportation. The GSA was created to foster
graphene-based education, technical collaboration, scientific exchange,
and value and job creation through successful commercialization. It is
envisioned that GSA members will be part of a premier network that joins
all major graphene stakeholders – researchers, government agencies,
producer and user companies.
The GSA intends to facilitate graphene commercialization activities through networking and partnerships. GSA board members include leaders of graphene companies, but also seasoned technology entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, intellectual property specialists, and scientific researchers. There is significant overlap with chief executives of the NanoBusiness Commercialization Association (NBCA). The NBCA is a long-established organization serving a similar purpose as the GSA, but for the broader nanotechnology community. The experience brought by the NBCA executives is expected to help the organization process of the GSA.
Among the planned activities of the GSA are to monitor progress and to develop action plans through regular web conferences and meetings. The GSA will communicate the benefits and progress of the graphene industry as a whole
to public and private thought leaders and influencers including, where
appropriate, governmental agencies and regulatory bodies.
We look forward to a lasting relationship and mutual benefit with the Graphene Stakeholders Association. Graphenea will keep you updated on our joint activities with the GSA!
Posted by Marko Spasenovic on April 17, 2013 0 Comments
Water purification and desalination is one of the great challenges of mankind, with 1.1 billion people living without proper drinking water. In particular, portable water purifiers and filters are always in demand, and new technologies are being sought to lower the cost and energy footprint. Nanotechnology holds great potential for getting rid of bacteria and other harmful contaminants, and now graphene water filters are showing great potential.
Graphene sheets perforated by small holes have first been explored by researchers at MIT as potential candidates for water filtration. Holes with a diameter of 1 nanometer (a billionth of a meter) are big enough to let water molecules sift through, however small enough to stop any undesired chemicals. The news of MIT's discovery was so big that the Smithsonian magazine, the publication of the famous Smithsonian Institution, named it one of the top 5 surprising scientific milestones of 2012, along with the Higgs Boson, the discovery of Earth-like planets, and NASA’s Curiosity mission to Mars.
Whereas only one year ago nanometer-sized holes in graphene sheets sounded like a pipe dream, recent months brought news of actual graphene nanopore devices, with various uses such as DNA detectors or traps to study small numbers of silicon atoms. With graphene sheet nanopores a reality, a graphene water filter comes within reach.
Top-notch scientific researchers are not the only ones toying with the idea of solving the world's problems with graphene. Lockheed Martin, the famous weapon manufacturer, recently announced that it has obtained a patent for graphene nanopore-based water filters. The technology, called Perforene, is similar to that studied at MIT. A prototype is expected by the end of the year.
As with a few other high-tech applications of graphene, the technology for mass production has not yet been reached. However, with the likes of Lockheed Martin investing in the graphene nanomanufacturing, solutions are expected in the near future. The current results are very promising - graphene, due to its small weight and size, could significantly reduce the costs and energy footprint of portable water filters and desalinators.
Posted by Marko Spasenovic on April 03, 2013 0 Comments
Team Graphenea has once again worked in
close collaboration with research scientists and published another
high-impact scientific paper. Our most recent publication, in last
month's edition of Nature Physics, shows multiplication of electrons after light absorption by graphene. The work may prove important for future graphene-based solar cells. Amaia Zurutuza, Amaia Pesquera and Alba Centeno made the graphene for our collaborators at ICFO (Barcelona), MIT, and the Max Planck Institute for polymer physics.
Graphene absorbs light of all colors,
ranging from the ultraviolet to far infrared. When graphene absorbs a
photon, which is a particle of light, a conducting electron is
created in the graphene. The electron is free to move and carry
electricity. Such a photoabsorption process is the key process in
solar cells and photodetectors.
Together with the world-renowned groups
of Koppens (ICFO), Levitov (MIT), and Bonn (Max Planck) we have shown that conducting
electrons in graphene multiply as they move, producing more
conducting electrons. Essentially, instead of losing energy to heat the
graphene crystal, which is what would happen in most other materials,
in graphene the electrons give their energy to promote other
electrons to the conduction band.
The project is a show of Graphenea's wide multinational scientific collaboration. The experiment was designed at ICFO in Barcelona, carried out at Amsterdam and Mainz (Max Planck), and the experimental findings explained in detail with the help of theoretical physicists from MIT. Graphenea remains the supplier of choice for high quality graphene to scientists worldwide.
It's not the first time that Graphenea publishes high level scientific papers. Last year, our graphene was featured in Nature, when we showed that graphene can support surface plasmons, essentially guiding light waves along the graphene sheet. In that case we also collaborated with the Koppens group, as well as with the group of Hillenbrand here at nanoGune, the parent institute that spun off Graphenea.
"We at Graphenea work to provide the best materials for the research community and the industry", says Jesus de la Fuente, our CEO. "Our close collaboration with research scientists at the cutting edge continues to bear fruit for both sides".
We currently have three products available from Sigma-Aldrich:
Monolayer graphene film on SiO2/Si substrate, product number 773700
Monolayer graphene film on copper foil, product number 773697
Monolayer graphene film on quartz, product number 773719
About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company whose biochemical, organic chemical products, kits and services are used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and as key components in pharmaceutical, diagnostics and high technology manufacturing. Sigma-Aldrich customers include more than 1.3 million scientists and technologists in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals and industry. The Company operates in 38 countries and has nearly 9,000 employees whose objective is to provide excellent service worldwide. Sigma-Aldrich is committed to accelerating customer success through innovation and leadership in Life Science and High Technology.
Posted by Jean-Christophe Lavocat on January 28, 2013 6 Comments
The development of graphene has a very high pace. The production of graphene is made in different ways, for instance by chemical vapor deposition or by growth on Si, and the applications and quality vary a lot. In this blog post we will try to help you deciding which kind of graphene is good for a given application. We will also introduce you to the ratio price/quality that has a real importance for mass scale production.
Properties of graphene
Selecting graphene for a given device (flexible book, sensor, lab on chip, you name it) is a choice based on its outstanding properties. Not every device would benefit from these features of course, but it is amazing to see the number of fields where graphene outperfoms other standard materials.
Property
Graphene
Electron mobility (at room temperature)
2,5 x 105 cm2 V-1 s-1
Young's Modulus
1TPa
High thermal conductivity
> 3000 WmK-1
Optical absorption
3,00%
In addition to that, graphene is impermeable to any gases can sustain high densities of electric current.
These values are for very high quality graphene. In reality, most graphene types will come close to these numbers, so depending on your application you would like to use very pure forms of graphene or not.
Different types of graphene
Liquid phase and thermal exfoliation
Liquid phase and thermal exfoliation is a process in which graphite is exposed to solvents or a thermal shock that will allow the splitting of individual graphene flakes. Despite mass production is already reached, during this process several layers are created, and sometimes impurities are inserted in the flakes. One can also collect smaller platelets of graphene by using nanotubes instead of graphite but the process are longer and more expensive.
Synthesis on Silicon Carbide
Silicon Carbide is a widely used material in the field of electronics. By sublimating the atoms of Si, the remaining face of the SiC has a graphite surface. Nowadays the number of layers of graphene could be controlled and the quality is very high over a wide area (crystallites of some hundreds of micrometers ). Drawbacks are the high cost of SiC and the high temperatures required to produce the sublimation. The two factors will probably confine SiC graphene to niche markets like high-frequency transistors or metrology resistance standards.
Chemical Vapor Deposition
CVD represents nowadays the easiest process to prepare high quality graphene in large amount. After evaporation of carbon atoms on a copper foil, the method allows transfer of graphene to a broad range of substrates. For instance it can be transfered to silicon waffers were nano sized electronics can be designed. CVD graphene does not contain many defects ( grain boundaries or inclusion of thicker layers are common but not critical).
The quality over price ratio already allows CVD graphene to be used for many applications like transparent and flexible electronics. Also, since graphene is an efficient gas barrier, it is used as an anti-corrosion coating.
Other types
Other types of graphene exist, like mechanical exfoliation of molecular assembly, but there use is very limited. Indeed, with mechanical exfolliation, for istance, you can only produce small flakes. The interest is bounded to the academic level for very specific experiments.The same limitation occurs with molecular assembly for instance.
Applications of Graphene
Graphene could be used in various fields like sensors and metrology, biotechnology, high-frequency transistors, flexible and transparent electronics, batteries or photonics. For most of these areas, CVD graphene is the best candidate in terms of cost and quality. However, few of them could require special fabrication methods. Nanoelectronics for example could be done more easily with molecular assembly of graphene. Graphene ink or graphene paint that could be used into printed electronics could be fabricated with liquid phase exfoliation.
You have an application but you are not sure about the technology you need? Tell us on our forums. We will be here to answer you.
To know more :
Novoselov KS, Fal'ko VI, Colombo L, Gellert PR, Schwab MG, & Kim K (2012). A roadmap for graphene. Nature, 490 (7419), 192-200 PMID: 23060189
Posted by Jean-Christophe Lavocat on January 16, 2013 2 Comments
Graphene Live is a serie of conferences where material providers, equipment makers, policymakers industrials, investors and academics meet and speak about the market of graphene. Several topics are presented, from the applications, to the technology developments through the appearance of new market sectors. The last episode was held last December in Santa Clara, California, USA and visitors from more than 30 countries where attending the conference.
Tradeshow Graphene and printed electronics
In addition to the different talks, a tradeshow was combined between an other event about Printed Electronics. It was a perfect place to meet partners in graphene if you work in the printed electronics area. For instance, Novacentrix, Heraeus Precious Metals, Roth & Rau or Thin Film Electronics were exhibiting there.
A « demonstration street » had also been prepared with the latest technology in printed flexible displays such as posters, e-readers, audio paper, interactive games, OLED displays, electronics in fabrics, interactive printed controls and menus, printed RFID and much more.
Conference about graphene
Graphene Live was definetely the hotest place to hear about graphene last year : 4 keynotes, 5 talks about touch screen and replacement for ITO, two presentations about manufacturing and equipment and many more on various applications such as sensors, quantum materials or energy storage with graphene.
Graphenea was happy to attend the conference, and our Scientific Director, Amaia Zurutuza, gave a presentation about synthesis, transfer, characterization and potential applications of graphene in an industrial context. Her dedicated work here in Spain has already lead to the publication of a Nature article as well as a patent filed.
Graphene Live Europe
The next event will be hosted in Europe, in Berlin (Germany). Be sure to save the date (April 17th and 18th, 2013) since Jesus De La Fuente, Graphenea's CEO, will be there to give a presentation. The two days will follow the same organization as the one from the USA. If you are an investor, an electronics manufacturer or just a graphene curious, come and meet us there. We will be happy to discuss with you.
What was the last conference about graphene that you attended? Did you like it or not? Drop a line of comment below to start the discussion.
Posted by Jean-Christophe Lavocat on December 24, 2012 0 Comments
From November 25 to November 30, Graphenea was attending the Material Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting in Boston. This meeting intend to gather the top scientists and companies working for better materials.
MRS Presentation
The MRS was founded in 1973 and is an organization opened to academia, industry and government material researchers. The Society promotes all kind of actions related to this interdisciplinary field. Members of the Society help to communicate about the progress of material science. Today, 16,000 members are registered over more than 70 countries. The Society is different from that of single discipline professional societies because it encourages communication and technical information exchange across the various fields of science affecting materials.
In addition to exchange within the Society by the mean of publications and symposium proceedings (MRS Bulletin and Journal of Material Research), MRS sponsors two major annual Meetings offering approximately 95 topical symposia. The Society push forward the interaction among professionals and students through University Chapters.
Symposium on Carbon Nanomaterial
This year, Graphenea have been sponsoring the Symposium on Carbon Nanomaterial. A large amount of presentations were made to describe the progress in graphene research. Among those, Graphenea have been particularly interested in CVD graphene :
Controlling Orientation, Edge Geometry and Thickness of High Quality Large-area CVD Graphene - Presented by Nicole Grobert from Department of Materials, University of Oxford
Combinatorial Methods for Wafer-scale CVD Graphene Synthesis - Presented by Jeremy Cheng from Intermolecular Inc. (http://www.intermolecular.com), San Jose, California, USA
Gas Transport Control in Graphene Growth by Chemical Vapor Deposition on Copper Foil - Presented by Seong-Yong Cho from Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Activation Energy Paths for Graphene Nucleation and Growth on Cu - Presented by Cecilia Mattevi from Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Study on Interface between Graphene Domains Grown by Ambient-pressure CVD - Presented by Yui Ogawa from Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Optical and Electrical Characterization of CVD Graphene Transferred to SiO2/Si Substrates for Biosensor Applications - Presented by Flavio Plentz from Physics, UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Correlation of Carrier Diffusion and Defect Structure in CVD-grown Graphene - Presented by Caitlin Rochford from Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
As you know, Graphenea is deeply involved in research and development of graphene, as well as industrial applications. Since most commercial application requires high quality and high reproducibility, we produce Chemical Vapor Deposited Graphene. If you like that topic, you can register to our mailing list to receive all the most recent news.
Posted by Jean-Christophe Lavocat on December 25, 2012 1 Comment
Not such a long time ago, say five to six years, people were still using wide and heavy cell phones. They were only able to do one thing : to give a phone call. Nowadays, the technology enabled smart phones : they are able to browse the web, to be your personal assistant, you play games with them, and you even record movies or take photos that could be instantly uploaded on Facebook or Tweeter. What a revolution !
However progress is a never ending story. You cannot spend a week without discovering some new high tech device. In the world of graphene, this is happening at a very impressive pace. One good thing with graphene, is that its applications are never far from the public's attention. Remember our article about graphene enhancing batteries' lifetime ? Cellphone and tablets producers are already thinking about graphene to improve their devices.
Graphene enables flexible phones
In a word, when you use graphene, electronics becomes smaller and flat. Since it becomes possible to build very thin, transparent and flexible electrodes, many industry sectors will embrace the technology. For instance we produce graphene for Nokia and they are planning on releasing a flexible phone soon. We have already presented the project of flexible display sooner this year. This time Nokia goes further and enters the race of flexible phones. At the moment, no precise date is given by Nokia or any other electronic firm. However, Nokia released a video clip showing the possibility of such a phone. It is quite amazing to think ten years in the past, and compare this phone with the famous N3310 for example.
In the video you can appreciate the flexibility and the transparency of the device. All that is due to graphene electrodes. Here at Graphenea we are very impatient to see this kind of phone on the market. What about you?
Tell us what kind of graphene you need and we will produce it for you. Our knowledge and equipment mean almost any need can be met and on any scale - research, pilot line and industrial. To discuss your customised graphene requirements, provide your details using the...
Graphenea has improved its graphene coverage and reduced the price per unit area with our new product: graphene on a 4" Si/SiO2 wafer. The graphene is a high-quality monolayer which covers the full 100mm diameter wafer. This large graphene on Si/SiO2 wafer keeps the uniformity and excellent quality of our graphene over the entire wafer.
Graphene is emerging as one of the most promising materials ever
discovered – one that has the potential to play a vital role in the
development of advanced technologies in key industry segments, including
computing, electronics, energy, defense, health care,
telecommunications, and transportation. The GSA was created to foster
graphene-based education, technical collaboration, scientific exchange,
and value and job creation through successful commercialization. It is
envisioned that GSA members will be part of a premier network that joins
all major graphene stakeholders – researchers, government agencies,
producer and user companies.
In addition to the different talks, a tradeshow was combined between an other event about Printed Electronics. It was a perfect place to meet partners in graphene if you work in the printed electronics area. For instance, 
Graphenea was happy to attend the conference, and our Scientific Director, Amaia Zurutuza, gave a presentation about synthesis, transfer, characterization and potential applications of graphene in an industrial context. Her dedicated work here in Spain has already lead to the publication of a 
In a word, when you use graphene, electronics becomes smaller and flat. Since it becomes possible to build very thin, transparent and flexible electrodes, many industry sectors will embrace the technology. For instance we produce graphene for 
