Professor University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States
Graphene is a highly desirable material for use in printed electronics, sensors, energy storage media, and other applications however its widespread use remains challenged by the lack of simple, direct, and scalable routes for its preparation and integration during flexible device manufacturing. We report the fast and efficient preparation of graphene films via photothermal pyrolysis of thin un-patterned or patterned polymeric graphene precursors at room temperature in milliseconds using high-intensity pulsed light from a xenon flash lamp operating in air. By localizing light absorption to the precursor films during photothermal treatment, the process can be carried out at room temperature, enabling the preparation of large-area high-quality graphene films on any substrate, including thermally sensitive substrates, without the need for a catalyst. The precursor films can be patterned using a variety of printing techniques (including screen, stencil, and laser printing) and lithographic techniques (including optical and thermal imprint lithography) prior to conversion to graphene.
The direct fabrication of patterned high-quality graphene structures prepared using this technique is amenable to roll-to-roll processing and offers significant opportunities for scalable fabrication of graphene-based electronic devices. We will discuss the performance of several devices, including LED arrays, supercapacitors, batteries, and micro heaters that have been successfully fabricated using this approach.
