Chemists Create 3-D Printed Graphene Foam
June 22, 2017 | Rice UniversityEstimated reading time: 4 minutes
Nanotechnologists from Rice University and China’s Tianjin University have used 3-D laser printing to fabricate centimeter-sized objects of atomically thin graphene. The research could yield industrially useful quantities of bulk graphene and is described online in a new study in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano.
Laser sintering was used to 3-D print objects made of graphene foam, a 3-D version of atomically thin graphene. At left is a photo of a fingertip-sized cube of graphene foam; at right is a close-up of the material as seen with a scanning electron microscope. (Image courtesy of Tour Group/Rice University)
“This study is a first of its kind,” said Rice chemist James Tour, co-corresponding author of the paper. “We have shown how to make 3-D graphene foams from nongraphene starting materials, and the method lends itself to being scaled to graphene foams for additive manufacturing applications with pore-size control.”
Graphene, one of the most intensely studied nanomaterials of the decade, is a two-dimensional sheet of pure carbon that is both ultrastrong and conductive. Scientists hope to use graphene for everything from nanoelectronics and aircraft de-icers to batteries and bone implants. But most industrial applications would require bulk quantities of graphene in a three-dimensional form, and scientists have struggled to find simple ways of creating bulk 3-D graphene.
For example, researchers in Tour’s lab began using lasers, powdered sugar and nickel to make 3-D graphene foam in late 2016. Earlier this year they showed that they could reinforce the foam with carbon nanotubes, which produced a material they dubbed “rebar graphene” that could retain its shape while supporting 3,000 times its own weight. But making rebar graphene was no simple task. It required a pre-fabricated 3-D mold, a 1,000-degree Celsius chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process and nearly three hours of heating and cooling.
3-D graphene foam objects are produced by shining a laser on a mixture of powdered sugar and nickel powder. The laser is moved back and forth to melt sugar in a 2-D pattern, and nickel acts as a catalyst to spur the growth of graphene foam. The process is repeated with successive layers of powder to build up 3-D objects. (Image courtesy of Tour Group/Rice University)
In the latest study, a team from Tour’s lab and the labs of Rice’s Jun Luo and Tianjin’s Naiqin Zhao adapted a common 3-D printing technique to make fingertip-size blocks of graphene foam. The process is conducted at room temperature. No molds are required and the starting materials are powdered sugar and nickel powder.
“This simple and efficient method does away with the need for both cold-press molds and high-temperature CVD treatment,” said co-lead author Junwei Sha, a former student in Tour’s lab who is now a postdoctoral researcher at Tianjin. “We should also be able to use this process to produce specific types of graphene foam like 3-D printed rebar graphene as well as both nitrogen- and sulfur-doped graphene foam by changing the precursor powders.”
Three-D laser printers work differently than the more familiar extrusion-based 3-D printers, which create objects by squeezing melted plastic through a needle as they trace out two-dimensional patterns. In 3-D laser sintering, a laser shines down onto a flat bed of powder. Wherever the laser touches powder, it melts or sinters the powder into a solid form. The laser is rastered, or moved back and forth, line by line to create a single two-dimensional slice of a larger object. Then a new layer of powder is laid over the top of that layer and the process is repeated to build up three-dimensional objects from successive two-dimensional layers.
The new Rice process used a commercially available CO2 laser. When this laser was shone onto the sugar and nickel powder, the sugar was melted and the nickel acted as a catalyst. Graphene formed as the mixture cooled after the laser had moved on to melt sugar in the next spot, and Sha and colleagues conducted an exhaustive study to find the optimal amount of time and laser power to maximize graphene production.
The foam created by the process is a low-density, 3-D form of graphene with large pores that account for more than 99 percent of its volume.
“The 3-D graphene foams prepared by our method show promise for applications that require rapid prototyping and manufacturing of 3-D carbon materials, including energy storage, damping and sound absorption,” said co-lead author Yilun Li, a graduate student at Rice.
Tour is the T.T. and W.F. Chao Chair in Chemistry as well as a professor of computer science and of materials science and nanoengineering at Rice.
Additional co-authors include Rodrigo Villegas Salvatierra, Tuo Wang, Pei Dong, Yongsung Ji, Seoung-Ki Lee, Chenhao Zhang, Jibo Zhang and Pulickel Ajayan, all of Rice, and Robert Smith of Qualified Rapid Products in West Jordan, Utah.
The research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and its Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, the China Scholarship Council, the State Key Program of National Natural Science of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Special Foundation for Science and Technology Major Program of Tianjin and Universal Laser Systems.
Suggested Items
Koh Young Showcases Award-winning Inspection Solutions at SMTconnect with SmartRep in Hall 4A.225
04/25/2024 | Koh Young TechnologyKoh Young Technology, the industry leader in True 3D measurement-based inspection solutions, will showcase an array of award-winning inspection and measurement solutions at SMTconnect alongside its sales partner, SmartRep, in booth 4A.225 at NürnbergMesse from June 11-13, 2023. The following offers a glimpse into what Koh Young will present at the tradeshow:
Real Time with… IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Plasmatreat: Innovative Surface Preparation Solutions
04/25/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOIn this interview, Editor Nolan Johnson speaks with Hardev Grewal, CEO and president of Plasmatreat, a developer of atmospheric plasma solutions. Plasmatreat uses clean compressed air and electricity to create plasma, offering environmentally friendly methods for surface preparation. Their technology measures plasma density for process optimization and can remove organic micro-contamination. Nolan and Hardev also discuss REDOX-Tool, a new technology for removing metal oxides.
KYZEN to Promote Pair of Stencil Cleaning Chemistries at SMTA Ciudad Jaurez Expo & Tech Forum
04/25/2024 | KYZEN'KYZEN, the global leader in innovative environmentally friendly cleaning chemistries, will exhibit at the SMTA Ciudad Juarez Expo & Tech Forum, scheduled to take place Thursday, May 9, 2024 at the Injectronic Convention Center in Ciudad Jaurez, Chihuahua, Mexico. During the event the KYZEN Clean Team will focus on understencil cleaning products KYZEN E5631J and CYBERSOLV C8882.
Cadence, TSMC Collaborate on Wide-Ranging Innovations to Transform System and Semiconductor Design
04/25/2024 | Cadence Design SystemsCadence Design Systems, Inc. and TSMC have extended their longstanding collaboration by announcing a broad range of innovative technology advancements to accelerate design, including developments ranging from 3D-IC and advanced process nodes to design IP and photonics.
Listen Up! The Intricacies of PCB Drilling Detailed in New Podcast Episode
04/25/2024 | I-Connect007In episode 5 of the podcast series, On the Line With: Designing for Reality, Nolan Johnson and Matt Stevenson continue down the manufacturing process, this time focusing on the post-lamination drilling process for PCBs. Matt and Nolan delve into the intricacies of the PCB drilling process, highlighting the importance of hole quality, drill parameters, and design optimization to ensure smooth manufacturing. The conversation covers topics such as drill bit sizes, aspect ratios, vias, challenges in drilling, and ways to enhance efficiency in the drilling department.