Oak Ridge demonstrates first large-scale graphene fabrication

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., May 14, 2015 -- One of the barriers to using graphene at a commercial scale could be overcome using a method demonstrated by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

ORNL's ultrastrong graphene features layers of graphene and polymers and is an effective conductor of electricity.

Now, using chemical vapor deposition, a team led by ORNL's Ivan Vlassiouk has fabricated polymer composites containing 2-inch-by-2-inch sheets of the one-atom thick hexagonally arranged carbon atoms.

The findings, reported in the journal Applied Materials & Interfaces, could help usher in a new era in flexible electronics and change the way this reinforcing material is viewed and ultimately used.

"Before our work, superb mechanical properties of graphene were shown at a micro scale," said Vlassiouk, a member of ORNL's Energy and Transportation Science Division. "We have extended this to a larger scale, which considerably extends the potential applications and market for grapheme."

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