About graphene and its amazing properties we heard a lot. But he still has not found practical application in serial devices. And the main problem lies in the so far the task of establishing mass production of this material. From time to time, reports appeared in the press about the next group of scientists who found a way to make graphene inexpensively. But all these achievements remain behind the laboratory walls.
And in the Scientific Reports scientific journal, the recently, interesting work of the team of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts and Michigan University was published. According to the source, the researchers managed to come up with a method of continuous production of graphene, which may become a real impetus for the emergence of this material in electronic devices. The proposed method is an advanced version of the widely used chemical precipitation technique from the steam phase (CVD, Chemical Vapor Depation). Speaking briefly, using CVD steam with carbon is placed in a vacuum tank, where a reaction with copper foil passes and the finest film is formed. A feature of the proposed method is to replace the static sheet of copper foil with a copper ribbon, which continuously rotates in the chamber. This approach is slightly more complicated than the previous one, but it allows you to create a continuous and intact stripen tape. Unlike existing devices that require stopping for unloading graphene sheets, the new method allows you to establish a continuous process and significantly increase the scale of production.
Nature
You should not be seduced, «graphene» The future has not come yet. The graphene obtained in this way is made with defects and the group of scientists is still a painstaking work to improve their methodology. But, perhaps, it is this achievement that forms the basis of mass production of promising material.
Source:
- Nature