A brand-new technique for the functionalization of graphene

• A global study group including Professor Federico Rosei of the Institut nationwide de la recherche scientifique (INRS) has shown a novel procedure to modify the framework as well as residential or commercial properties of graphene.

This chain reaction, referred to as photocycloaddition, customizes the bonds between atoms utilizing ultraviolet light. The outcomes of the research were lately released in the distinguished journal Nature Chemistry.

Graphene has superior physical, optical and also mechanical residential or commercial properties. For instance, it is typically used in the manufacture of transparent touch displays, in aerospace, and also in biomedicine. This material, however, has limited usage in electronic devices.

"No various other material has residential properties comparable to graphene, yet unlike semiconductors utilized in electronics, it does not have a band space. In electronics, this void is an area in which there are no energy degrees that can be inhabited by electrons. Yet it is vital for interacting with light," clarifies Professor Federico Rosei of INRS's Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre.

"The multidisciplinary group of researchers from Canada, China, Denmark, France and the United Kingdom prospered in modifying graphene so as to create a band void. Current research study is rather basic yet can have effects over the following couple of years in optoelectronics, such as in the manufacture of photodetectors or in the field of solar power. These include the manufacture of high-performance photovoltaic cells for transforming solar power into electricity, or the field of nanoelectronics, for the severe miniaturization of devices," claims Professor Rosei.

This innovation is corresponding to the results published in Nature Materials, in May 2020, by an Italian-Canadian team of scientists under the guidance of Professor Rosei.