Nanotechnology Spotlight – Latest Articles

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3D printed nanostructures made entirely of graphene

nanowiresThe successful implementation of graphene-based devices invariably requires the precise patterning of graphene sheets at both the micrometer and nanometer scale. Finding the ideal technique to achieve the desired graphene patterning remains a major challenge. Researchers have now demonstrated 3D printed nanostructures composed entirely of graphene using a new 3D printing technique. The method exploits a size-controllable liquid meniscus to fabricate 3D reduced graphene oxide nanowires.

Nov 27th, 2014

Graphene electrodes for simultaneous electrophysiology and neuroimaging

neuron_imagingStudying the complex wiring of neural circuits and identifying the details of how individual neural circuits operate in epilepsy and other neurological disorders requires real-time observation of their locations, firing patterns, and other factors. These observations depend on high-resolution optical imaging and electrophysiological recording. Researchers have now developed a completely transparent graphene microelectrode that allows for simultaneous optical imaging and electrophysiological recordings of neural circuits.

Nov 13th, 2014

Optical transmittance of multilayer graphene films

grapheneResearchers are confident that graphene may outperform existing transparent conductive materials. However, monolayer graphene might not be sufficient for fabricating a highly conductive electrode. The dilemma is that the transmittance of graphene film decreases as the number of layers increases. It therefore is of great importance to have a fast and reliable method to determine the number of layers in the fabrication and measurement of multilayer graphene.

Nov 11th, 2014

2D molybdenum disulfide: a promising new optical material for ultra-fast photonics

MoS2Molybdenum disulfide's (MoS2) semiconducting ability, strong light-matter interaction and similarity to graphene makes it of interest to scientists as a viable alternative in the manufacture of electronics, particularly photoelectronics. In pushing towards practical optical applications of two-dimensional (2D) MoS2, an essential gap on understanding the nonlinear optical response of 2D MoS2 and how it interacts with light, must be filled.

Oct 30th, 2014

Graphene-based biomimetic soft robotics platform

soft_roboticsAmong the various robotic actuation mechanisms driven by different stimuli, light-driven systems have garnered more and more attention due to their advantages in wireless/remote control, localized rather than whole-field driven capabilities, and electrical/mechanical decoupling. Inspired by the photothermal effect of graphene in biomedical applications, researchers have now demonstrated an easily fabricated and remote/wireless control light-driven approach to actuation mechanism based on graphene nanocomposites.

Oct 23rd, 2014

Graphene laminate drastically changes heat conduction of plastic materials

graphene_laminateGraphene laminate - multilayer stacks of graphene layers piled on top of each other - is a promising material for thermal coating applications. Researchers have investigated thermal conductivity of graphene laminate films deposited on PET substrates. They found that the compressed laminates have higher thermal conductivity for the same average flake size owing to better flake alignment. This shows a possibility of up to 600-times enhancement of the thermal conductivity of plastic materials by coating them with the thin graphene laminate films.

Oct 14th, 2014

Graphene materials for energy storage applications

grapheneGraphene and graphene-based materials have attracted great attention in energy storage applications for batteries and supercapacitors owing to their unique properties of high mechanical flexibility, large surface area, chemical stability, superior electric and thermal conductivities that render them great choices as alternative electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage systems. A recent review article summarizes the progress in graphene and graphene-based materials for four energy storage systems, i.e., lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, lithium-sulfur batteries and lithium-air batteries.

Oct 9th, 2014

Graphene accelerates the electro-optic response in ferroelectric liquid crystal displays

liquid_crystals_on_grapheneFerroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) display technology holds the promise of fast switching times, a large viewing angle, and high resolution. FLCs have a spontaneous polarization whose direction is perpendicular to the layer. This spontaneous polarization plays an imperative role in the electro-optic switching of FLCs. Researchers have now developed a technique to amplify the spontaneous polarization by doping graphene into FLCs.

Sep 18th, 2014