In recent years, there’s a lot of talking about the extraordinary properties of graphene (Image ©AlexanderAlUS) for the next generation of electric circuits but also for other applications, for example as a substitute for plastics. One of the major obstacles to the adoption of graphene is its cost: a small piece of graphene can cost more than 1,000 Euros (more than 1,100 USD). Now Shou-En Zhu of the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands showed a technique that could lower production costs a thousand times.
Shou-En Zhu is a PhD student and in his thesis describes how the chemical vapor deposition of methane on a copper sheet can create crystals of graphene that align together to form an endless sheet of great purity. It could be what was missing to trigger the revolution announced since 2010, when physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research on graphene.
The method for producing graphene devised by the two physicists is still considered the one that gives the best results in terms of quality but is also the most expensive. Over the years, various methods have been developed that have more or less halved the cost but we’re still far from competitive levels for common uses. A new method promises to produce it at industrial level but the transition from the experimental phase to the actual production may not be easy.
The new technique devised by Shou-En Zhu to produce graphene sheets could be the winner. Using a low pressure mix of hydrogen, methane and argon, Zhu separated the carbon atoms to form a graphene sheet by passing the gas over a copper sheet at a temperature of 1,000° Celsius. The copper acts as a catalyst stripping the hydrogen from the methane leaving pure carbon that sticks to the surface and aligns perfectly with other carbon atoms to form pure graphene.
This method is about ten times faster than previous deposition methods. Another very important factor is that it could be a thousand times cheaper than the one devised by Geim and Novoselov. This material has a structure in which the atoms form hexagons with 120° angles but in the case of imperfections the structure is different partially losing its extraordinary qualities.
The first tests carried out by Shou-En Zhu gave positive results with the production of high quality graphene. On March 3, 2015 Zhu will defend his PhD thesis on the production of graphene by the method of vapor deposition. Regardless of its outcome, in the coming years we will see if it’s the right way to really start the graphene revolution.
[ad name=”AmazonElectronics468″]
