3D Graphene
Korean researchers successfully developed a technique to make 3D graphene structures, previously though impossible. Graphene is more conductive than copper, stronger than steel, and so chemically stable that it is called, the “dream material.” However, until now, it only came in flat sheets or simple lumps.
But a new technique allows the creation of 3D structures with graphene, and also allows the tweaking of the possible energy storage per unit area of the material. With the ability to manipulate graphene so exactly, it is more likely to be utilized as a custom-designed material.
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) and the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) announced on February 2 that a research team from the Center for Nanomaterials and Chemical Reactions at IBS led by Kim Sang-ouk, professor of Materials Science & Engineering at KAIST, was able to develop a new 3D graphene creation technique.
The research team succeeded in creating various kinds of graphene gels out of metal substrates with different sizes and shapes, including very large-scale and tube-shaped graphene gels.
Earlier, the team discovered that a water-containing gel is formed on the surface of a metal substrate in a slightly acidic fluid bath, as graphene oxide is reduced by the metal substrate.
The research team also created several new types of 3-D structures out of graphene, after conducting experiments on the assumption that a graphene gel will imitate the shape and size of a metal substrate.
In addition, it was confirmed that the pores of the graphene gel can be changed in size, in line with the speed of the oxidation-reduction reaction of graphene oxide. Furthermore, graphene’s conductivity was increased by keeping the pores as small as possible and eliminating moisture with an appropriate drying method.
When the new material was used in a super capacitor electrode, it was measured to have 33.8mF/cm2, much higher than 4.04mF/cm2, which was previously the performance of the best capacitor in the world.
The research findings were published online in the January 29 issue of Advanced Materials, a weekly scientific journal covering materials science.