Graphene’s for research and the growing number of publications per year

Introduction:

Professor Richard Feynman forecast the bright future of nanomaterials in his popular lecture, “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom.” Since then, many trials have been made to consider and manipulate matter at the atomic level to exploit nanoscale properties. In 2021, the number of scholarly papers describing graphene’s use was enormous. With such a high level of curiosity in graphene, both specialists and the public need to stay updated on recent and historical graphene technology. This article looks at graphene and its effect on the science environment.

Nanostructure:

Graphene was originally found as a two-dimensional carbon nanostructure that was mechanically exfoliated from a block of graphite. Still, researchers have recently expanded their studies into this two-dimensional carbon nanostructure. This molecular structure will take a variety of morphologies, as seen in Figure 1. These single-atom carbon layers may take on various morphologies, such as quantum dots, nanosheets, and nanoparticles, and can be tailored to produce breakthrough developments. The use of graphene-based nanomaterials in medicine is currently a hot research subject.

Figure 1: (a) when folded into a 0D structure, it forms spherical molecules called fullerenes; (b) when rolled into a 1D structure, it forms carbon nanotubes; (c) when it forms a single 2D atomic layer, it forms graphene; and (d) when stacked into a 3D bulk structure, it forms graphite [1]

1. Trends

Whether or not graphene ultimately contributes to nanoscale transistors, its introduction in the early stages of the post-silicon period is historic. There has been interesting in this promising material from the scientific community. It could help Moore’s law surpass the technical barrier before approaching the fundamental limit of the single-molecule level. Graphene is now a popular research subject, with a clear promise to meet the global demand for breakthrough technology. The number of graphene-related publications for the last six years is given in (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Total number of publications in 2015-2021 as per Google scholar information (keyword: Graphene)

2. The Graphene survey

The Graphene Council’s survey report was released on January 4, 2021 [2]. The Graphene Council is the world’s largest community devoted to graphene and related advanced materials science, production, and commercial use. The link over 30k materials experts, professionals, architects, and technology developers: roughly 1/3 of academia and the other 2/3 from the industry. This survey received responses from over 800 people and organisations. According to the survey, graphene has an extraordinarily broad spectrum of possible uses, owing to its remarkable range of performance characteristics. The survey respondents were divided into categories depending on how people use graphene, such as processing graphene, using it in an application, testing, designing potential applications, etc.

Fig 2 depicts the proportion of survey respondents who identify as working people. On looking at research activities, it is observed that academic organisations are studying graphene account for 19% of all respondents, or 78% of the more than 250 academic organisations that took part in the study.  Commercial organisations (which include both producers and users of graphene materials) also research graphene for 17% of all responses. The Graphene Council is well aware of the significant volume of research conducted by the private sector to create real-world commercial applications. According to the survey findings, 19 % of commercial institutions and 14 % of academic organisations seek application growth, for a total of 33%, just marginally lower than study activities.

If graphene progresses, the percentage of companies focusing on application growth will outnumber those focusing on analysis, particularly as production size, handling, dispersion, and pricing become more resolved. Graphene producers were also split into industrial and research, with 17% and 12 % of the market. Industrial and academic graphene suppliers accounted for 17% and 12% of total graphene production, respectively. While many academic institutions manufacture graphene, the material is mainly used for internal analysis or application production. On the commercial side, it’s worth noting that some commercial producers don’t sell graphene, preferring to use it entirely in value-added products or masterbatch formulations. A significant 10% of survey participants described themselves as “Intermediary” organisations, including toll processors, functionalization services suppliers, and other mechanisms aimed at improving graphane. Finally, 4% of our survey respondents work for governing authorities, including standards-setting associations, regulatory commissions, and government departments.

Fig. 2. The percentage of survey respondent corresponding to the society

Graphene is the only substance that can claim to be the thinnest, toughest, most thermally conductive, most electrically conductive, have the highest barrier properties, and have other positive characteristics all at the same time. Coatings [3], energy harvesting [4], textiles [5], filtration, composites, printed electronics, biomedical [6], EMI insulation, corrosion prevention, films, lubrication, heat transport, among many other uses, are among the many. As for efficiency increases, manufacturing are exponentially scaled, the processing is perfected, and better pricing renders this incredible material affordable in 2021; graphene is reaching an inflexion point. The varieties of graphene for different applications are shown in table 1.

Table 1. Graphene for various applications [2]

3. The use of graphene

A very small amount of graphene (less than 1% by weight, or even tenths or hundredths of a per cent by weight) may significantly affect efficiency. The graphene’s work is influenced by its morphology, chemical groups, surface chemistry, functionalization, and form element (powder, paste, or solvent). Choosing the best graphene for a given application is important. The synthesis and storage of graphene are crucial to its application’s performance (i.e. dispersion techniques). Although graphene is now readily accessible, it takes special handling capabilities, so collaborating with people who have these abilities is important. For most applications, even at very low loadings in terms of percent by weight, substantial amounts of graphene will be needed. As a result, it’s critical to partner with manufacturers and vendors who can scale demand while maintaining high quality. Table 2 summarises some of the ground-breaking efforts in graphene synthesis

Table 2. Comparison of graphene synthesis methods and their various applications

Future Scope

Graphene is a fascinating substance that may be used in nanotechnology. Graphene has outstanding electrical, optical, mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties, indicating that it has great potential for use as a transparent electrode, FETs, gas sensors, energy storage systems such as supercapacitors a catalyst.  New graphene synthesis methods are being developed to achieve favourable electrical properties. As a designer product, graphene is expected to be soon able to replace silicon-based electronics.  Future graphene-based electronic devices are supposed to operate at a very high speed, be chemically inert, and be environmentally sustainable. This post gave a broad description of graphene as well as a look at recent innovations. Given graphene’s enormous ability and one-of-a-kind properties, it would be more appropriate to inquire, “What science and engineering problems exist for which graphene might have a solution?” rather than “What are the actual applications of graphene?”

References

1. A. K. Geim, K. S. Novoselov, Nat. Mater. 2007, 6, 183–191.
2. Parra C, Aristizabal J, Arce B, Montero-Silva F, Lascano S, Henriquez R, Lazcano P, Giraldo-Gallo P, Ramírez C, Henrique Rodrigues da Cunha T, Barrera de Brito A. Graphene Coating as an Effective Barrier to Prevent Bacteria-Mediated Dissolution of Gold. Metals. 2021; 11(1):147.
3. Mohammad Mehrali, Johan E. ten Elshof, Mina Shahi, Amirhoushang Mahmoudi, Simultaneous solar-thermal energy harvesting and storage via shape stabilized salt hydrate phase change material, Chemical Engineering Journal, Volume 405, 2021, 126624.
4.  Bonetti, L, Fiorati, A, Serafini, A, et al. Graphene nanoplatelets composite membranes for thermal comfort enhancement in performance textiles. J Appl Polym Sci. 2021; 138:e49645.
5. Yi He, Chen Yi, Xiliu Zhang, Wei Zhao, Dongsheng Yu, Magnetic graphene oxide: Synthesis approaches, physicochemical characteristics, and biomedical applications, TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Volume 136, 2021, 116191, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2021.116191.