New manufacturable approaches to the deposition and patterning of graphene materials

石墨烯是以蜂窝阵列形式聚集在一起的单层碳原子，具有一系列迷人而奇异的性质，其中许多性质仍未得到充分开发，使其成为现代材料研究的先锋。随着石墨烯在高速电子设备、太阳能电池、超级电容器、电池、热电设备、超级晶体管、有机发光二极管(OLED)、传感器、基因测序和储氢材料等方面的潜在应用，石墨烯的潜在影响几乎是无限的。然而，尽管人们对这种迷人的材料感兴趣，但目前的石墨烯合成方法，包括剥离、外延生长、石墨氧化或化学气相沉积(CVD)，都存在重大缺陷，包括所生产的薄膜尺寸、石墨烯形成的层数、产生石墨烯的表面类型限制、对多层形成缺乏控制、以及对高温反应条件和长时间生产高质量石墨烯的要求；所有这些都抑制了基于石墨烯的材料的长期实用和最终商业化。因此，我们的目标是通过开发基于石墨烯的材料的制造、图案化和功能化的新途径来促进和加速石墨烯的商业开发。我们的建议利用了EPSRC-HEFCE资助的埃克塞特-巴斯石墨烯科学中心(CFGS)非常重要的现有能力，该中心由50多名学术和研究人员以及从事石墨烯工作的学生组成。在了解和控制石墨烯的基本性质方面取得了很大进展后，我们现在将探索可制造石墨烯材料、设备和系统的有前途的途径。具体地说，我们将：(I)开发开创性的、高通量的石墨烯原子层沉积(ALD)技术，适合于在实际衬底上进行行业兼容的生产技术；(Ii)研究能够高速、高分辨率直接写入石墨烯的“蓝天”方法。

Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms held together in a honeycomb array, has a fascinating and exotic range of properties many of which still remain underexplored and that have placed it in the vanguard of modern materials research. With possible applications in high speed electronic devices, solar cells, super capacitors, batteries, thermoelectric devices, super transistors, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), sensors, genetic sequencing and hydrogen storage materials, the potential impact of graphene is almost limitless. However, despite the interest in this fascinating material, current graphene synthesis methods, including exfoliation, epitaxial growth, graphite oxidation or chemical vapour deposition (CVD), have significant drawbacks including limits to size of thin film produced, the number of layers of graphene formed, restrictions to the types of surfaces onto which graphene layers are produced, lack of control over multilayer formation, as well as a requirement for high temperature reaction conditions and long time periods to produce high quality graphene; all of which inhibit the long term utility and eventual commercialisation of graphene-based materials. Our goal is therefore to advance and accelerate the commercial exploitation of graphene by developing new routes to the manufacture, patterning and functionalisation of graphene-based materials. Our proposal leverages the very significant existing capabilities of the EPSRC-HEFCE funded Exeter-Bath Centre for Graphene Science (CfGS), comprising over 50 academic and research staff and students working in graphene. Having made great strides in understanding and controlling the fundamental properties of graphene, we will now explore promising routes to manufacturable graphene materials, devices and systems. Specifically we will: (i) develop pioneering, high-throughput atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques for graphene, suited to industry-compatible production technology on practical substrates, (ii) investigate a 'blue-skies' approach capable of high-speed, high-resolution direct-writing of graphene.