Thanks to the work being carried out by a group of nanoengineers from Jonathan Claussen's laboratory at the University of Iowa, United States, a new technique has been designed to print graphene circuits on polymer and cellulose surfaces which can promote the development of what is known as paper electronics.
According to what has been published, these researchers have apparently been searching for months for different ways to make use of graphene, and especially its still amazing properties, to make new sensors and other technologies. As a reminder, tell you that graphene is a stronger material than steel yet only one atom thick. On the other hand, it has been found to possess excellent qualities as an electrical and heat conductor as well as very interesting mechanical and optical capabilities.
Creation of printed circuits on paper much closer thanks to this new methodology to print graphene.
With all this in mind, it is surely much easier to understand why this group of researchers has decided to seek new ways of working with graphene. In their search they have achieved develop a new methodology by which they can be used inkjet printers for printing multi-layer circuits and electrodes. Unfortunately, once the material was printed, it lost electrical conductivity, so it was necessary to treat it to optimize its performance as much as possible.
To be able to perform this treatment, after numerous tests they decided to bet on laser technology, a very successful solution since, by treat multilayer electrical circuits and printed electrodes with a pulsed laser technique They could see that electrical conductivity was improved without damaging the paper substrate, polymer or other brittle surfaces.