I-Corps: System for synthesis of protective graphene coatings

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于保护涂层的合成和应用的广泛领域。一种具体的商业应用是在各种基材上合成防腐涂料。由于石墨烯独特的内在性质，该系统可以降低涂层成本和缩短合成时间。这些保护性涂料用于多个行业，包括航空航天、汽车以及石油和天然气。该项目将探索核心技术的商业潜力，并将为进一步的技术发展和可能的商业化路径提供信息，并将在等离子体纳米科学的整个领域创造新的研究和商业化推力。该I-Corps项目专注于推进射频等离子体化学气相沉积（CVD）的创新方法。在各种基底材料上合成大量石墨烯涂层的技术。最新的研究进展表明，石墨烯可以有效地产生在等离子体放电环境。等离子体CVD合成已被证明在石墨烯的结晶膜的单层和多层片材的生产中是有效的，其特征在于高质量和低结构缺陷。此外，与使用原子通量时相比，在合成时利用等离子体通量增强了参与合成过程的物质在衬底表面上的流动性和反应性。 该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project lies in the broad field of synthesis and application of protective coatings. One specific commercial application is synthesis of anti-corrosive coatings on variety of substrate materials. Owing to the unique intrinsic properties of graphene, the system enables lower coating cost and faster synthesis times. These protective coatings are utilized in multiple industries including aerospace, automotive, and oil and gas. This project will explore the commercial potential of the core technology and will inform further technical developments and possible commercialization paths and will create new research and commercialization thrusts in the overall field of plasma nanoscience.This I-Corps project is focused on advancing the innovative approach of Radio Frequency plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) technique for synthesis the large quantities of graphene coatings on various substrate materials. Recent research advances indicate that graphene can be effectively generated in the plasma discharge environment. Plasma CVD synthesis has been shown to be effective in the production of monolayer and several-layer sheets of crystalline films of graphene characterized by high quality and low structural defects. In addition, utilization of plasma flux at synthesis enhances mobility and reactivity of the species participating in the synthesis process on the substrate's surface in comparison with that when atomic flux is used. This enables synthesis at lower temperatures and widens range of substrate materials that can be used in the synthesis.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.