TECH

AU researchers involved in creating the longest graphene nanowire

Two researchers from the University of Aveiro (AU), Manuel Melle-Franco, from CICECO-Institute of Materials of Aveiro, and Karol Strutynski, postdoctoral fellow, are part of the international team that chemically synthesized a graphene nanofite with 7, 7 nanometers in length - a nanometer is a part that is obtained by dividing 1mm a million times - the highest reported so far with atomic precision.
Graphene nanowires are almost one-dimensional carbon structures, with high potential for application in the fields of electronics, photonics and energy conversion, among others, thanks to the electronic, optical and mechanical properties they present, is explained in a note sent to newsrooms.

These properties strongly depend on the nanodimensions of these fragments of graphene, namely the width and the length. Therefore, a high control of its synthesis and an adequate characterization of its properties is essential. This is achieved by methods of organic synthesis that achieve atomic precision, but which have hitherto allowed the development of smaller chains.

In this study, a new approach was developed for the synthesis of graphene nanofits through a series of iterative reactions of deprotection and condensation.The research carried out, besides allowing to synthesize the longest nanowite up to now, opens the way for the synthesis of even larger chains, for the validation of theoretically predicted properties and for the exploitation of these properties in applications such as field effect transistors , photodetectors, solar cells and molecular wires.The work was published in the magazine Angewandte Chemie and is the result of the 2D-INK ("paints-2D") project, funded by the European Union with 3 million euros, in the field of "Future and Emerging Technologies". 2D-INK aims to create the basis for a new flexible and printable circuit technology with nanotubes based on nanowires or with materials such as "bumpy graphene", the result of this same project and also recently presented at Angewandte Chemie.

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