New Technology Greatly Reduces the Cost of Graphene

Graphene has been praised as "magic material", and though it only has the thinkness of a single atom, it is very flexible, harder than steel, and can effectively heat conduction and conduction. However, the industrialization and large-scale applications of graphene are still subject to high production costs. Researchers at University of Glasgow recently have used mature commercial copper foil, which makes the cost of large-scale graphene reduced by 100 times.

In a recent journal Science Report, the research team explained how to cut the cost of the preparation of large-scale graphene so much.

Usually, the preparation of graphene needs to go through the process of chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and generate gas reactants on the substrate of the special surface film. The research team uses the commercialization copper foil commonly used on the lithium ion battery cathode to generate high quality graphene, and super smooth surface of the copper foil provides excellent reaction bed for the formation of graphene. Results show that the graphene produced in the new method has improved significantly in the electrical conductivity and optical performance.

This cost of the commercial copper foil is about $1 per square meter, and in the preparation methods that are currently and widely used, the price of copper foil is for $115 per square meter, and also requires additional processing for it in advance, and increase the part of the cost.

One of researchers that also focuses on research and development of artificial skin said: "Our team can produce high quality graphene at a lower cost, which promotes a big step to mass production of affordable applied electronic components. Graphene can provide flexible conductive surface, and sensitive perception source for wearing prosthetic people. Now even the most advanced prosthesis can not provide this delicate perception."