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Scientists turn graphene into working OLED electrodes, a first by Brooks Hays Dresden, Germany (UPI) Jan 18, 2017
For the first time, scientists have fashioned working OLED electrodes out of graphene. The breakthrough could pave the way for a variety of smart material applications. Already, scientists have integrated the new OLEDs into touch-screen displays, like those used in smartphones. "This was a real breakthrough in research and integration of extremely demanding materials," lead researcher Beatrice Beyer, a scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP, said in a news release. In its pure 2D form, graphene consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a lattice pattern. The material is extremely strong and flexible. It is also an efficient conductor of heat and electricity. An OLED is an organic light-emitting diode, a thin film that turns electricity into light. Researchers turned graphene into an OLED electrode by heating a pure copper wafer to 800 degrees Celsius and supplying a mixture of methane and hydrogen. The two compounds trigger a chemical reaction, causing the methane to dissolve into the copper wafer and produce carbon atoms. After the wafer and carbon layer cool, a carrier polymer is applied and the copper is etched away. The resulting OLED electrode -- each of which measure 2 by 1 square centimeters -- can be coupled with a transparent polymer film to operate like a smartphone touch screen, making the use of breakable glass unnecessary. "The first products could already be launched in two to three years," concluded Beyer.
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