A group of researchers at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom have discovered a low-cost method for producing graphene-printed electronic products that can greatly accelerate and reduce the cost of conductive graphene inks. A group of researchers at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom have discovered a low-cost method for producing graphene-printed electronic products that can greatly accelerate and reduce the cost of conductive graphene inks. Printed electronics provide a breakthrough in the penetration of information technology in everyday life. The possibility of printing electronic circuits will further promote the popularity of Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The development of printed conductive inks for electronic applications is rapidly evolving, expanding applications in transistors, sensors, antenna RFID tags and wearable electronic devices. Current conductive inks have traditionally used metal nanoparticles to achieve high electrical conductivity. However, these materials can be expensive or susceptible to oxidation, making them far less than ideal for low cost IoT applications.
The team found that the use of a dihydro-oligoco-glycan material called Cyrene is not only non-toxic, environmentally friendly and sustainable, but it also provides graphene inks at higher concentrations and conductivity. The relevant research content was published in the recent "Nature Communications". Professor Zhiurn Hu said: "This work shows that printed graphene technology can achieve low cost, sustainable and environmentally friendly, suitable for ubiquitous wireless connectivity in the Internet of Things era, and provide RF energy harvesting for low-power electronic devices." Kewen Pan, the first author of the paper, said: "This may be an important step in the commercialization of printed graphene technology. I believe this will be an evolution of the printed electronics industry because of the low cost, stability and environmental friendliness of this material."