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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Scientists find simple way to produce graphene


Amartya Chakrabarti holds up a sample of graphene produced via the dry-ice method. Credit: Scott Walstrom, Northern Illinois University

The focus of intense scientific research in recent years, graphene is a two-dimensional material, comprised of a single layer of  arranged in a. It is the strongest material ever measured and has other remarkable qualities, including high , a property that elevates its potential for use in high-speed nano-scale devices of the future.
In a June communication to the Journal of Materials Chemistry, the NIU researchers report on a new method that converts carbon dioxide directly into few-layer graphene (less than 10 atoms in thickness) by burning pure magnesium metal in .
"It is scientifically proven that burning magnesium metal in carbon dioxide produces carbon, but the formation of this carbon with few-layer graphene as the major product has neither been identified nor proven as such until our current report," said Narayan Hosmane, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry who leads the NIU research group.
"The synthetic process can be used to potentially produce few-layer graphene in large quantities," he said. "Up until now, graphene has been synthesized by various methods utilizing  and tedious techniques. This new method is simple, green and cost-effective."
Hosmane said his research group initially set out to produce single-wall carbon nanotubes. "Instead, we isolated few-layer graphene," he said. "It surprised us all."
"It's a very simple technique that's been done by scientists before," added Amartya Chakrabarti, first author of the communication to the  and an NIU post-doctoral research associate in chemistry and biochemistry. "But nobody actually closely examined the structure of the carbon that had been produced."
Provided by Northern Illinois University

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