Nanostructured films and polymer composites of Graphene and Two-dimensional Materials: electrical and mechanical properties and applications in wearable bio-sensors.
17.12.2018 von 17:15 bis 18:00
Graphene and related 2D materials (GRMs) hold a great potential for flexible electronics and photonics for their novel electrical and optical properties, ideal for new lasers and wearable electronics. [1]. The production and deposition of thin films of GRM (fig.1a) from solutions or inks is extremely attractive for printed electronic devices, viable for flexible electronics. [2] GRM-based inks enable a large range of printed device and integration options, such as digital, lithographic printing and roll-to-roll coating, which are ideal to deposit patterned thin films. The exfoliation in liquid of layered bulk materials (such as graphite, MoS2 crystals, etc.) is a scalable approach ideal to produce inks. However, currently the low yield of this process, results in a low concentration of dispersed GRMs. I will give a brief overview on the development of high-yield production GRM-based solutions and inks, suitable for several priting processes enabling GRM-based printable and flexible (opto)electronic devices. [3]. Then I will show how careful tuning of the surface interaction and GRM deposition process enables printed electronic and optoelectronic devices [4] from 2D material inks (fig.1b), such as Thin Film Transistors achieving electron mobility > 100 cm2 V-1 s-1 at room temperature. [5] Finally, I will demonstrate how the biocompatible properties of graphene [6] and are suitable as neuron-interfacing electrodes, (fig.1c) preserving the neuronal activity. This paves the way to the fabrication of flexible graphene-based devices on plastics or textiles for medical applications, (fig.1d) such as biosensors and neuroprosthetics, whereby graphene electrodes interact efficiently with the cells without altering the cells behaviour [6].
[1] Z. Sun et al. ACS Nano 4, 2, 803, (2010)
[2] F. Torrisi et al. ACS Nano, 6, 4, 2992 (2012)
[3] F. Torrisi & J. N. Coleman Nature Nanotechnol. 9, 10 738, (2014)
[4] F. Torrisi et al. Adv. Opt. Mater. 4, 7, 1088, (2016)
[5] T. Carey at al. Nature Commun., DOI : 10.1038/s41467-017-01210-2, (2017)
[6] F. Fabbro et al. ACS Nano 10, 615, (2016)
Figure 1: a) Nanostructured GRM films, b) GRM-based hybrid heterojunction, c) graphene films preserve the basal physiological level of neuronal activity, d) a textile-based flexible bio-sensor.