Graphene -Restructuring Future

A term paper on “Graphene -Restructuring Future”

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Management Information Systems (BM61014) Course at the
Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur.

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Prof. Prithwis Mukerjee Siddharth Verma
10BM60086

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 Graphene -Restructuring Future

Table of Content

Abstract
3
Introduction
4
Understanding Graphene 5

Synthesis of Graphene 6

Astounding properties of Graphene 7

Graphene Applications 8

Economic potential of the idea 10

Current players in this area 11

Challenges 11

Probability of success 12

Conclusion 12
References 13

Abstract

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 Graphene -Restructuring Future

” There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come”, by Victor Hugo

This decade will see end of Moore's Law. Chip technology won't grow every 18 months as it has
for 20 years. Silicon will not be a viable option in times to come but chip industry isn't doomed.
All chip Industry need is a new material, something which is smaller than silicon that can still
handle all the hard work it takes to be a modern transistor. Answer to this query is -’Graphene’. It
is stronger and stiffer than diamond, yet can be stretched by about quarter of its length, like
rubber. Surface area of graphene is the largest known for its weight .Automobile industry is also
considering using grapheme in the body of automobile which would be robust given the fact
graphene is about 100 times stronger than steel and fuel efficient due to light weight.

Despite graphene's thinness it is impermeable to gases or liquids. It conducts heat and electricity
better than copper, and can be made into transistors which are faster than those made from
silicon. With such an array of properties, there is no denying the fact that we are entering a carbon
age.

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 Graphene -Restructuring Future

Introduction

Graphene - is the newest member in the family of carbon allotropes. Although it was isolated
for the first time only in 2004, the progress it made over 5-6 years is enormous.

There are many areas of excitement about graphene:

 It is the first example of two-dimensional atomic crystal.

 he electronic properties of graphene are very unique: electrons in graphene behave
like massless relativistic particles
 Graphene possess many other properties that are superior to those of its
contemporaries.

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 Graphene -Restructuring Future

Understanding Graphene

Graphene is a two dimensional sheet of carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb
crystal lattice structure. We can visualize graphite as many sheets of graphene stacked together.

Most of us have produced graphene like structure unknowingly while using pencil.

Lead of pencil is made of graphite, and when we write with it on a piece of paper, the graphite is
cleaved into thin layers and make up the text or drawing that we are trying to make. Some of these
thin layers will contain only a few layers or even a single layer of graphite, i.e. graphene.

3-D structure of Graphite made of layers of

graphene stacked together

2-D sheet of graphene.

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 Graphene -Restructuring Future

Graphene sheets stack to form graphite with an interplanar spacing of about 0.335 nm, which means
that a stack of 1mm/.335 nm=2.98 million sheets would be only one millimeter thick. It is the basic
structural element of some of the carbon allotropes including graphite, charcoal, carbon nanotubes
and fullerenes.

Synthesis of Graphene

A thin sheet of graphene was first isolated on 2004 by Novoselov of Manchester University, United
Kingdom by a simple peeling of the top layer of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite with a Scotch tape.
The discovery that grapheme is stable material at room temperature was a breakthrough .Mechanical
methods to separate graphite sheets with adhesive tape are hard to scale up and it yields very small
amount of graphene.

Graphene can also be obtained by heating silicon carbide to high temperatures which is typically
greater than 1100 °C to reduce it to graphene. Sample size produced is dependent upon the size of
the SiC Epitaxial growth on silicon carbide. Epitaxy is a method of depositing a monocrystalline film
on a monocrystalline substrate. Graphene can also be obtained by epitaxial growth on metal
substrates like those of iridium, ruthenium etc. Graphene synthesized by chemical vapour deposition
on thin nickel films yields high-quality sheets of few layer graphene of around 1 cm2. These sheets
have already been tested for various electronic applications. A modified technique has been found in
which copper foil is used where the growth automatically stops after a single graphene layer resulting
in creation of large graphene films.

The more simpler and convenient way would be reduction of graphite oxide (GO).

Graphite Oxide

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 Graphene -Restructuring Future

The production of GO involves oxidation of graphite in the presence of strong acids and oxidants.
Graphite oxide (GO) can be directly dispersed in several polar solvents like ethylene glycol,
dimethylformamid etc. The dispersion of GO on chemical reduction using either dimethylhydrazine or
hydrazine results in production of chemically modified graphene in which a large portion of oxygen-
containing functional groups is removed during reduction. Graphene can also be produced by the
thermal treatment of GO in inert or reducing atmosphere.

The eco-friendly method would be the camera flash reduction of GO. Another green method for the
synthesis of high-quality graphene nanosheets on a large scale is through electrochemical reduction.
The direct electrochemical method of preparation will be a boon for the fast exploitation of graphene
in electrochemical device applications.
Graphene can also be produced inform of graphene ribbons by cutting open nanotubes.

Multi walled carbon nanotubes are cut open in solution by action of potassium permanganate
(K2MnO4) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4).One more method to produce graphene nanoribbons by plasma
etching of nanotubes which are partly embedded in a polymer film.

Astounding properties of Graphene:

Among all graphitic materials, graphene is considered best as it is the building block for the entire
family of graphitic materials. Roll it up into a ball, and we get a carbon buckyball. Roll graphene up
into a tube, and we get a carbon nanotubes. Stack it in layers, and we get graphite. Among other
properties:-

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 Graphene -Restructuring Future

 Graphene is thinnest known material in the universe.

 Graphene is strongest ever measured material.
 It has excellent thermal, optical and electrical properties.
 It is a transparent conductor which is one atom thin.

 It has high-specific surface area and moreover it can be stretched up to 25% of its length like
rubber.

Graphene Applications

Unique properties of graphene have caused researchers and companies to consider using this
material in several fields

Applications of Graphene under Development

The following applications are currently being explored:

Due to its robustness and light weight it is being considered for components with higher
strength to weight ratios. It has been founded that adding graphene to epoxy composites may result
in stronger/stiffer components than epoxy composites using a similar weight of carbon nanotubes.
Graphene appears to bond better to the polymers in the epoxy. This property could result in the
manufacture of components with high strength to weight ratio for various uses for example windmill
blades or aircraft components.

Transistors that will operate at higher frequency. It would be possible to build high frequency
transistors with graphene, as electrons in graphene move at much higher speed compared to
electrons in silicon. No matter how small electronic devices get, they still generate a lot of heat.

Graphene on the other hand has an amazing ability to conduct and disperse heat.

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 Graphene -Restructuring Future

Ultracapacitors/Supercapacitors. As surface area to mass ratio of graphene is extremely high, one

of the potential applications is efficient ultracapacitors. It is believed that graphene could be used to
produce ultracapacitors which will have a greater energy storage density than what is currently
available.
Cheaper and revolutionary display screens in mobile devices. Researchers have found that
graphene can replace diodes that are used in electronic device display screens. The use of graphene
not only reduces the cost but eliminates the use of metals, which may make devices easier to recycle.
As layers of graphene are so thin, the resulting electrodes are transparent; this makes the material
ideal for use in applications such as portable displays. It would, be used to replace indium titanium
oxide, which is expensive and inflexible.

In automobile industry for making automobiles body and storing hydrogen for fuel cell
powered cars. Researchers have prepared fuel tank, which has higher amount of hydrogen storage
and therefore a lighter weight fuel tank. This could help in the development of practical hydrogen
fuelled cars.

Graphene for solar energy: Graphene is a rapidly rising star in materials science fields also. This 2-d
material exhibits array of unique properties like

 Excellent optical-transmittance
 Low resistance
 High mechanical and chemical stabilities

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 Graphene -Restructuring Future

These exceptional qualities possess great promise for its potential applications in photovoltaic
devices.

In medical field, as sensors to diagnose diseases. These sensors are based upon distinctive
property of graphene's large surface area and the fact that molecules that are sensitive to particular
diseases can very well attach to the carbon atoms in graphene. For example, researchers have found
that strands of DNA, graphene, and fluorescent molecules can be combined to diagnose various
diseases.

Graphene’s unique magnetic properties—its negligible spin-orbit coupling—also makes graphene an

attractive candidate for spin electronic devices.

Economic potential of the idea

Computer microprocessors based on graphene instead of silicon which would offer much greater
speed offering a prospect of computers operating at terahertz speed surpassing current gigahertz
chip technology.

$ Graphene Market
70000000

60000000

50000000

40000000

$ Graphene Market
30000000

20000000

10000000

0
2009 2015

According to Lux Research, “Numerous benefits offered by graphene will help expand the market for
graphene from $196,000 last year to $59 million in 2015 with potential to impact $53 billion of
intermediate products and help the material make a splash in applications from automobiles to
displays.” Graphene will benefit coating developers along with companies producing energy storage
devices, and other nanointermediate providers by offering much lower prices yet comparable or better
performance compared to carbon nanotubes.

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 Graphene -Restructuring Future

Current players in this area

Various graphene suppliers active in the market are:

 Angstron Materials

 Vorbeck Materials in Jessup, Maryland

 XG Sciences in East Lansing, Michigan

 Graphene Industries of Andre Geim's group

Alliances- Larger chemical companies’ like3M, BASF, Dow, and DuPont have taken a more
conservative approach. BASF has, for example, formed a partnership with Vorbeck to jointly develop
products.

Production(Tons)
250

200

150

Production(Tons)
100

50

0
2010 2012

Challenges

Large scale production of graphene is matter of concern. One of the important graphene's
applications will be to replace the silicon-based materials used in semiconductor technologies. But
this would need technological breakthroughs such as the ability to grow larger-scale uniform
monolayer graphene films and to modify the conductivity of graphene nanostructures. In production of
electronic Devices there is still no wet-chemical etching procedure to fabricate graphene structures.

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 Graphene -Restructuring Future

Physicists and engineers have been working to address this issue to tap the material’s potential. One
of the better methods is synthesis through chemical vapour deposition. This involves exposing a
substrate to a number of chemicals, often at high temperatures. These chemicals then react on the
surface to give a thin layer of the desired product. The results in Hong's case were relatively large;
high-quality films of graphene just a few atoms thick and several centimetres wide.

Probability of success

The probability of success of graphene is 100% given its unique and outstanding characteristics. The
probability of success of graphene based various material would be 80-90% as some of the
conceived ideas may not turn into reality due to various factors. Its potential is confirmed by various
eminent personalities including but not limited to some senior IIT professors. The link to video for the
same is-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR8iKlA2Szw

High Probability of success for graphene based material can be attributed to large magnitude of
research going on in this field.

Conclusion

There is an acute need for high-quality, large-scale methods of synthesizing and processing
graphene the same is true for graphene-based devices and with products that are incorporated
with graphene in surprising ways. Large amount of research is going on to generate high quality
graphene in bulk. Based on the innovation going on in this field it would be realistic hope that soon we
will see products based on this wonder material-“Graphene”

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References

1. Novoselov, K. S., Geim, A. K., Morozov, S. V., Jiang, D., Zhang, Y., Dubonos, S. V.,
Grigorieva, I. V. & Firsov, A. A. "Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films"
Science 306, 666-669 (2004).
2. Geim, A. K. & Novoselov, K. S. "The Rise of Graphene" Nature Mater. 6, 183-191 (2007).

3. http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/oct252009/1115.pdf (5/11/2010)

4. http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090114/full/news.2009.28.html (5/11/2010)

5. http://www.understandingnano.com/graphene-applications.html (5/11/2010)

6. http://nanolabweb.com/blog/wp-
content/uploads/2008/09/baluch_etal_patentinggraphene_copy.pdf (5/11/2010)

7. http://www.mse.mtu.edu/faculty/yunhangh.html (5/11/2010)

8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene#Description (5/11/2010)

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