The University of Granada (UGR) has announced the launch the Graphene and Bi-dimensional Semiconductors Laboratory, one of the most complete public laboratories devoted to the manufacture and electric and structural characterisation of this material in Europe.
The new facilities, managed by the Group of Nanoelectronics lead by professor Francisco Gámiz Pérez, are located in the UGR Research Centre for Information Technology and Communication (CITIC-UGR, from its abbreviation in Spanish).
With an investment of more than 500,000 Euros, the new laboratory is devoted to the manufacture of all kinds and forms of graphene as well as the development of new graphene-based systems for electronic applications which include biosensors, electronic nanodevices for IoT (Internet of Things) applications, and flexible electronics, in addition to 'wearable' devices. According to the announcement this newly opened laboratory is comparable to those located at the University of Cambridge (UK) or at the University of Stanford (US).
The CITIC-UGR new Nanoelectronics Laboratory has been installed with the necessary equipment for obtaining CVD graphene sheets of a size up to 25 cm x 10 cm and transferring them to to a variety of different rigid and flexible substrates. This equipment completes the laboratory of electrical and nano-structural characterization already available in the CITIC. The materials developed can be electrically and structurally characterised in the UGR facilities (thanks to the equipment purchased, which includes an atomic-force microscope) and functionalised for use as biosensors. Along with CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition) graphene, they have also developed the methods for obtaining graphene oxide suspensions from graphite dust. Graphene oxide suspension can be deposited on different substrates for reducing it later, thus obtaining reduced graphene (rGO) using a kind of dip-pen lithography system.
Francisco Gámiz, director of the UGR Graphene Laboratory, said, "This method allows us to obtain graphene patterns and graphene bi-dimensional structures on different substrates with which to develop flexible antennas and sensors, and RF-tags (tiny devices similar to stickers that can be adhered to a product, animal or person and that have an antenna to receive and respond to radio-frequency requests"
Francisco Gámiz, continued, "Apart from graphene, the new facilities allow to obtain other bi-dimensional materials that, combined with graphene, improve and widen its field of action. These bi-dimensional materials, known as transition metals dichalcogenides (TMDs), such as molybdenum disulfide, molybdenum selenide or tungsten selenide, can be 'stacked' for forming structures with which to develop nanoelectronic devices and, from them, developing systems in the field of flexible electronics, such as the above mentioned 'wearables'."