Image: University of Copenhagen |
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen
have developed a new nanotechnology platform for the development of
molecule-based electronic components using the wonder material graphene. At the
same time, they have solved a problem that has challenged researchers from
around the world for ten years.
Since its discovery in 2004, graphene has
been called a wonder material, in part because it is 200 times stronger than
steel, a good electrical conductor, and is just a single atom layer thick. With
these properties, there are sky-high expectations for what graphene can be used
for. That is why researchers around the world are working on developing methods
to make and modify graphene. In a recently published article in Advanced Materials, researchers in nanochemistry
at the Department of Chemistry describe how they are among the first in the
world to be able to chemically produce large flakes of graphene.
“Using chemical and physical processes,
that we have been working to develop in recent years, we are now able to
produce such large flakes of graphene that we can use the flakes as components
in an entirely new technology platform within molecule-based electronics,” says
nanochemist Kasper Nørgaard, who along with his Danish and Chinese colleagues
in the Danish-Chinese Center for Molecular Nano-Electronics at the Nano-Science
Center, is behind the new platform as well as the solution to ten year old
problem.
More than 10 years ago when it was being
proclaimed that nanotechology could revolutionize computer technology, it was
in part because they imagined that the development of molecular electronics was
just around the corner. Molecular electronics involves replacing traditional
electrical components with molecules, creating tiny electronic circuits for use
in, for example, computers and data storage. This has proven to be more
challenging than anticipated, in part because the components short-circuited
when the molecules were contacted with electrodes and were therefore unable to
create a workable circuit. Graphene is the solution to the problem.
We can now place one of our graphene flakes
on top of the molecules, protecting the system from short circuits. That is how
we developed a new technology platform for use in the development of new
electronics based on molecules, says Kasper Nørgaard, who explains that in the
Danish-Chinese collaboration, they are trying to use molecules with different
properties in the platform, for example, molecules that can alternate between
being conductive and non-conductive. This paves the way for the electronics of
the future in areas such as memory technology, ultra-thin displays, and solar
cells.
