Communications of the ACM
WM Discovery Advances Graphene-Based Electronics
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee engineering graduate student Haihui Pu displays the atomic structure of graphene monoxide.
Credit: Alan Magayne-Roshak/UWM
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) researchers have discovered a new carbon-based material that could lead to the next generation of electronics.
The researchers say the material, known as graphene monoxide (GMO), exhibits characteristics that will make it easier to upscale than traditional graphene. GMO also is semiconducting, which is a necessary trait for controlling the electrical current in a strong conductor such as graphene.
The researchers, led by UWM professor Junhong Chen, created GMO while testing the behavior of a hybrid nanomaterial that consists of carbon nanotubes adorned with tin oxide nanoparticles. In one experiment, the researchers heated graphene oxide in a vacuum to reduce oxygen, which resulted in the alignment of carbon and oxygen atoms in the layers of graphene oxide, transforming the material into GMO.
"We thought the oxygen would go away and leave multilayered graphene, so the observation of something other than that was a surprise," says UMW's Eric Mattson. GMO is formed in single sheets, which could have applications in products that involve surface catalysis, notes UWM professor Marija Gajdardziska.
From University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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