Anything is possible when brilliant minds are involved.
Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a process for forming 3D shapes from flat, 2D sheets of graphene. They say this development can lead to a future of graphene-MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) hybrid devices and flexible electronics.
"To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate graphene integration to a variety of different microstructured geometries, including pyramids, pillars, domes, inverted pyramids, and the 3D integration of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)/graphene hybrid structures," SungWoo Nam, an assistant professor of mechanical science and engineering at Illinois, wrote in a press release statement, as reported by EurekAlert!
"The flexibility and 3D nature of our structures will enable intimate biosensing devices which can be conformed to the shape and characteristics of human skin and other biological systems. The 3D protruding micro-structures can also achieve enhanced sensitivity by maximizing the effective contact area between the sensors and non-flat surfaces.
"We also expect that our new 3D integration approach will facilitate advanced classes of hybrid devices between microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and 2D materials for sensing and actuation," he added.
So, what exactly is graphene? It's essentially a cluster of carbon atoms that have chemical properties. How did the minds at the University of Illinois churn out these pyramids, domes and pillars using it?
"Our method utilizes wet-transfer and adaptive substrate-engineering, providing several key advantages over other fabrication/integration methods of 3D graphene," Jonghyun Choi, a graduate student, said.
Choi adds that the process is scalable, which leaves us yearning to know what the University of Illinois' engineering department will use graphene for next.
Research is pretty awesome when it delivers like this, right?
