SBIR Phase I: Carbide Bonded Graphene Coating for Enhanced Glass Molding

这个小企业创新研究项目的第一阶段重点是一种新的碳化物结合石墨烯涂层技术，通过真空辅助热剥离功能石墨烯纳米纸来修饰硅片基模具的表面。与硅片和其他涂层材料相比，石墨烯涂层具有较低的表面摩擦系数和优越的表面光滑度，更高的硬度和耐磨性，更好的耐化学性和抗磨损性，较低的热膨胀系数和较高的导热系数等前所未有的性能。利用该新技术，石墨烯涂层硅模能够在先进的玻璃成型中生产高质量、高精度的微透镜和微透镜阵列。这样的产品在目前的玻璃行业很难生产。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是碳化硅结合石墨烯涂层具有独特的综合性能，包括优异的机械和结合强度，高硬度，良好的表面导电性和热传导率，低表面摩擦和优异的表面光滑度，强化学腐蚀性和抗磨损性，良好的细胞相容性，易于通过洁净室制造技术进行微图案，并且具有吸引人的半导体和光电子特性，从而为石墨烯的工程应用开辟了一条新的途径。微光学在许多领域都有巨大的应用，如消费电子、传感器、光通信、医疗应用、光整形和能源。目前，大多数低成本微光学产品都是基于塑料材料，这种材料通常用于低成本消费电子产品。然而，塑料微光学材料存在反射率低、透光性低、对环境变化不稳定、硬度低等缺点。用低成本的精密玻璃微光学代替塑料微光学是必不可少的。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project focuses on a novel carbide-bonded graphene coating technology to modify the surface of silicon wafer based molds through vacuum-assisted thermal exfoliation of functional graphene nanopaper. The graphene coating exhibits a unique combination of unprecedented properties such as lower surface friction coefficient and superior surface smoothness, higher hardness and wear resistance, better chemical resistance and anti-abrasion, lower thermal expansion coefficient and higher thermal conductivity comparing to silicon wafers and other coating materials. Using this new technology, the graphene coated silicon molds are able to produce high quality and high precision microlens and microlens array in advanced glass molding. Such products are difficult to produce in the current glass industry.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is that carbide-bonded graphene coating exhibits a unique combination of desired properties including excellent mechanical and bonding strength, high hardness, good electrical and thermal surface conductivities, low surface friction and excellent surface smoothness, strong chemical corrosion resistance and anti-abrasion, good cytocompatibility, easy micropatterning by cleanroom fabrication techniques, and attractive semiconductive and optoelectronic characteristics, thus opens up a new avenue toward engineering applications of graphenes. Microoptics have enormous applications in numerous fields, such as consumer electronics, sensors, optical communications, medical applications, light shaping, and energy. Currently, most low-cost microoptics products are based on plastic materials, which are commonly used in low-cost consumer electronics. However, plastic microoptics have many drawbacks, such as low reflective index, low light permeability, unstable to environmental changes, low hardness, etc. The replacement of plastic microoptics with low-cost precision glass microoptics is indispensable.