Monthly Archives: October 2015

Graphene nano-coils are natural electromagnets

Posted on by
Rice University researchers discover graphene spirals could challenge macro solenoids
nanosol

A nano-coil made of graphene could be an effective solenoid inductor for electronic applications.

In the drive to miniaturize electronics, solenoids have become way too big, say Rice University scientists who discovered, in an article just published by Nano Lett., the essential component can be scaled down to nano-size with macro-scale performance.

The secret is in a spiral form of atom-thin graphene that, remarkably, can be found in nature, according to Rice theoretical physicist Boris Yakobson and his colleagues.

“Usually, we determine the characteristics for materials we think might be possible to make, but this time we’re looking at a configuration that already exists,” Yakobson said. “These spirals, or screw dislocations, form naturally in graphite during its growth, even in common coal.”

– See more at: Rice News

2D Boron among the Angew. Chem. covers

Posted on by
angew_chem_cover

Two-dimensional boron would take different forms, depending on the substrate used in chemical vapor deposition growth. Image by Zhuzha Zhang

Our most recent work on 2D boron will be featured on a cover of the upcoming issue of Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The study builds on two of our previous works on two-dimensional boron  and provides further clues as to how this elusive material can be synthesized and what the product may look like.

Calculation of the atom-by-atom energies involved in creating a sheet of boron revealed that the metal substrate – the surface upon which two-dimensional materials are grown in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) furnace – would make all the difference.

The new calculations show it may be possible to guide the formation of 2D boron by tailoring boron-metal interactions.Theoretical physicist Boris Yakobson and his Rice colleagues discovered that copper, a common substrate in graphene growth, might be best to obtain flat boron, while other metals would guide the resulting material in their unique ways.

1.
Penev, E. S., Bhowmick, S., Sadrzadeh, A. & Yakobson, B. I. Polymorphism of Two-Dimensional Boron. Nano Lett. 12, 2441–2445 (2012).
1.
Liu, Y., Penev, E. S. & Yakobson, B. I. Probing the Synthesis of Two-Dimensional Boron by First-Principles Computations. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 52, 3156–3159 (2013).

– See more at: Rice News