MATERIALS
Unlocking new materials
WWW.MADEIN.IE « MARCH 2021 « 19
works with both the IEC and ISO in a
formal and informal capacity
respectively.
In the IEC, 50 per cent of all
graphene projects are being led by
European scientists. Within that, the
GFSC is leading 70 per cent, giving us
a strong voice in graphene
standardisation.
For standards to be eff ective, they
can’t be drawn up by one person or
organisation in isolation. They must
be a communal eff ort from various
buyers, manufacturers, researchers
and stakeholders. To this end, there
are several ways businesses can get
involved in developing graphene
standards.
On 19 January 2021, an online
workshop titled Graphene from the
Buyer’s perspective will take place.
The session is an open discussion on
what industry needs from graphene
standards. Attendance at this
gathering of international graphene
stakeholders is by invitation, but you
can express an interest in joining this
online.
The future of graphene
standardisation
Projects on graphene standardisation
are ongoing at the IEC and ISO. From
smaller projects on electric
connectivity, to large documents on
structural and chemical
characterisation. This is in addition
to a framework document that acts as
an index for characterising graphene
powders and dispersions. There is a
wealth of material to be published.
These projects should have the
answers to many of the questions
about graphene, and the documents
release is the next milestone for
graphene standards. From there,
industry adoption will have no limits.
Standardisation is an important
stage in the development of any new
material. While silicon took hundreds
of years to reach the peak of its use,
increased investment in graphene
research and standardisation,
alongside the pace of technological
development, will see graphene reach
super material status much quicker.
Graphene has a huge amount of
potential, but standardisation will
cement that potential, making it an
attractive, and viable, option for
industry. MADE
Perovskite cells, a material
increasingly used in solar
panels, are most effective for
power generation when used
in small areas. However, large
scale perovskite operations
have diffi cultly consistently
depositing solar cell layers,
leading to reduced energy
generation and diffi culties
scaling up this technology.
In a Graphene Flagship
project, two different GRMs
were added to perovskite
cells to boost the connectivity
between the perovskite and the
electron-collecting titanium
dioxide (TiO2) layer. This was
achieved by mixing graphene
fl akes into the TiO2 layer
and adding a separate layer
of lithium-reduced graphene
oxide between the perovskite
and the TiO2.
Introducing these GRMs
enabled record-breaking
renewable power generation
for the cells, achieving a 12.6
per cent conversion rate. While
the process of integrating these
materials is incredibly complex,
it’s easy to understand how the
results could impact our dayto
day lives.
Layering is a more complex
process than it may appear,
however. Scientists are
experimenting with different
parameters while piling up
layers. Among them, the
angle conformed between
the atomic arrangements
of the various layers is of
paramount importance to set
the materials’ properties. This
follows a discovery made in
2018, which identifi ed that
graphene could become a
non-resistive superconductor
when successfully twisted at a
1.1-degree angle.
When attempting the
experiment, scientists
discovered that the smallest
error in alignment could give
entirely different results. For
GRMs, this means that twisting
each atom layer has the
potential to open the fl oodgates
for a huge number of new
materials.
Graphene Flagship research
has already identifi ed
numerous possibilities for GRM
structures and manipulations,
the results of which are already
playing functional roles in
industrial applications.
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