Growth of 2D Electronics: Development of van der Walls heterostructures for flexible and transparent electronics.

石墨烯和其他2D纳米材料是令人兴奋的平台，可以让我们大幅改进未来的技术。它们独特而强大的特性将在从医疗保健监测到纳米电子开关设备的各种行业中具有前所未有的潜力。然而，要完全了解这些新材料的生长，并最终使它们在实验室外生产，还需要做大量的工作。我们将专注于设计硼苯、MoS2和WS2异质结构，同时还将探索过渡金属二卤化物(TMDCs)的更广泛的生长。将探索使用新的生长方法，如金属有机、等离子体增强和热CVD，以及开发新的催化剂和前体。我们还将致力于进行原子和电子结构测量，以更好地了解这些设备的电子传输特性。如前所述，TMDCs的应用范围很广。首先，由于TMDC既灵活又透明，它们允许医疗保健领域令人兴奋的进步。这方面的一个很好的例子是仿生眼的生产，允许小型像素相机产生可以发送到视神经的图像。第二个用例将出现在汽车行业，因为2D材料是下一代储能的有力候选者。在电池中使用纳米材料将允许更高的能量密度，同时也减少了组件的重量和尺寸。

Graphene and other 2D nanomaterials are exciting platforms that could allow us to dramatically improve future technologies. Their unique and powerful properties will have unprecedented potential across a wide variety of industries; from healthcare monitoring to nano-electric switching devices. However, a lot of work is still required to fully understand the growth of these new materials, and eventually get them to be produced outside of a laboratory. We will focus on the engineering of borophene, MoS2, and WS2 heterostructures whilst also exploring the broader growth of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). Using new methods of growth, such as metal-organic, plasma enhanced and thermal CVD will be explored as well as the development of new catalysts and precursors. We will also aim to undertake atomic and electric structure measurements to get a better understanding of the electron transport properties of these devices. As mentioned previously, the application of TMDCs span over a broad range of industries. Firstly, as TMDCs are both flexible and transparent, they allow for exciting advancements in healthcare. A good example of this is the production of a 'bionic eye', allowing for small pixel cameras to produce an image that can be sent to the optic nerve. A second use case would be in the automotive industry, as 2D materials are a strong candidate for the next generation of energy storage. The use of nanomaterials in batteries will allow for higher energy densities whist also reducing the weight and size of components.