Institute demonstrates large-scale graphene production

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a method in which a layer of graphene is deposited on a layer of polymer via a vapor deposition process. They covered an area of ​​about five by five centimeters.

The material is vapor deposited on the polymer support via chemical gas phase separation and has good conductive properties. The research is published in Applied Materials & Interfaces.

One of the researchers, Ivan Vlassiouk, says on the site of the laboratory that comparable properties of graphene had already been shown on a micro scale, but not before on a larger scale.

The big difference with other methods for making graphene lies in the vapor deposition on a polymer substrate. Many other methods use tiny flakes of graphene that are difficult to disperse evenly in the polymer.

As with many other experiments to produce graphene in larger quantities, the next question is how to scale it up so that it becomes economically viable to produce the material.