I-Corps: System for synthesis of protective graphene coatings

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于保护涂料的合成和应用的广泛领域。一种特殊的商业应用是在各种基材上合成防腐涂层。由于石墨烯独特的固有性质，该系统可以降低涂层成本，加快合成速度。这些防护涂料被用于多个行业，包括航空航天、汽车和石油和天然气。该项目将探索核心技术的商业潜力，并将为进一步的技术开发和可能的商业化路径提供信息，并将在整个等离子体纳米科学领域创造新的研究和商业化推动力。该i-Corps项目专注于推进射频等离子体化学气相沉积(CVD)技术的创新方法，以在各种衬底材料上合成大量石墨烯涂层。最近的研究进展表明，在等离子体放电环境中可以有效地生成石墨烯。等离子体化学气相沉积技术是制备高质量、低结构缺陷的石墨烯单层和多层结晶薄膜的有效方法。此外，与使用原子助熔剂时相比，在合成过程中使用等离子体助熔剂可以提高参与合成过程的物种在衬底表面的迁移率和反应性。这使得能够在更低的温度下进行合成，并扩大了可用于合成的衬底材料的范围。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.