Roll-To-Roll Electrostatic Printing for Manufacturing Few-Layer-Graphenes

这笔赠款提供资金，用于开发基于辊子的静电打印系统，用于大规模生产原始的、有序排列的几层石墨烯结构，用于电子和光电子领域的放大应用。主要的研究目标是：(I)实验研究卷到卷和卷到板的静电转移印刷工艺，目的是能够在英寸级宽的衬底上以高产量连续生产少层石墨烯的器件图案；(Ii)通过使用动态模拟工具对卷到卷的过程进行建模，深入了解与精确剥离范德华固体的原子层结构相关的潜在科学机制；(Iii)从转移效率、衬底上石墨烯厚度的均匀性、缺陷密度和印刷石墨烯的电学性质等方面，定量确定印刷压力、电场强度和辊子速度等关键工艺参数对最终印刷质量的影响；以及(Iv)探索静电印刷在石墨烯光学器件制造中的新应用。这项工作的成功完成将广泛贡献高速制造技术领域的基础知识，并显著扩大加工新兴原子层材料的能力。预计，所提出的卷对卷静电印刷技术如果成功实现，将在材料结晶度可与最好的晶体石墨相当的高度、实现多尺度图案化的高度简单性、高卷对卷吞吐量50英尺/分钟以及低图案化成本不到2美元/平方米方面超过当前用于生产少层石墨烯的技术的能力。它还具有开发成具有成本效益、环境友好的工业制造工艺的巨大潜力，可以满足满足未来能源需求和美国工业竞争力的全球需求。此外，该计划将提供新的教育和外展机会，让K-12学生和代表性不足的本科生参与与制造业相关的研究活动。

This grant provides funding to develop roller-based electrostatic printing systems for massively producing pristine, orderly arranged few-layer-graphene structures for scale-up applications in electronics and optoelectronics. The primary research objectives are to (i) experimentally study roll-to-roll and roll-to-plate electrostatic transfer-printing processes, aiming to enable the continuous production of device patterns of few-layer-graphenes on inch-scale wide substrates with a high throughput; (ii) obtain an in-depth understanding of underlying scientific mechanisms associated with the precise exfoliation of atomically layered structures of van der Waals solids through the modeling of roll-to-roll processes using dynamic simulation tools; (iii) quantitatively identify the effects of key processing parameters, such as printing pressure, electric strength, and roller speed on the final printing quality in terms of transfer efficiency, uniformity of graphene thickness over substrates, density of defects, and electrical properties of printed graphenes; and (iv) explore the novel application of electrostatic printing in the fabrication of graphene-based optical devices.The successful completion of this work will broadly contribute fundamental knowledge in the areas of high-speed manufacturing technologies and significantly expand the capability to process emerging atomically layered materials. It is anticipated that the proposed roll-to-roll electrostatic printing techniques, if successfully realized, will surpass the capability of current technologies for producing few-layer-graphenes in terms of a high degree of material crystallinity comparable to that of the best crystal graphite, a high degree of simplicity for realizing multi-scale patterning, a high roll-to-roll throughput 50 ft/min, and a low patterning cost less than $2/m2. It also holds the significant potential to be developed into cost-effective, environment-friendly industrial manufacturing processes that can address global needs for addressing future energy needs and US industrial competitiveness. In addition, the program will provide new education and outreach opportunities for involving K-12 students and underrepresented undergraduates into manufacturing-related research activities.