According to Embrapa researchers, the conductor is also flexible and almost transparent.
Graphene is a material almost transparent, light, flexible, and an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. About 200 times stronger than steel, graphene is considered a material capable of driving a technological revolution in the electronics industry, according to researchers from Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation).
However, there are some challenges for its development and applications, such as its production from renewable sources. According to Forbes magazine, the researchers claim that this can be solved using laser-induced green graphene (gLIG) technology. This material was the focus of a study published in the journal Applied Physics Reviews, signed by Brazilian and Portuguese scientists.
Green graphene makes simple, cost-effective electronics production possible
Pedro Ivo Cunha Claro, materials engineer and one of the authors of the article written during his postgraduate studies at UFSCar and UNL, says that “laser-induced graphene (LIG) opens the possibility for the simple, economical and scalable production of technological components”. The researcher recalls that in recent years there has been increasingly detailed research on the new conductor for integration in various electronic applications, such as supercapacitors, sensors, electrocatalysts and triboelectric nanogenerators.
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According to Claro, green graphene has been proposed for paint formulation or incorporation into polymer matrices, to further expand its use to non-carbon-based substrates or applications for which the original LIG cannot be used directly. “Its mechanical and physical-chemical properties, such as high mechanical resistance and electrical conductivity, make it a material with enormous potential for technological applicability in several areas”, explains the engineer.
New conductor is able to reduce the production of electronic waste
One of the researchers from Embrapa Instrumentação (SP) who signed the article, Luiz Henrique Capparelli Mattoso, says: “it is possible to apply gLIG on different substrates, aiming at the emergence of wearable and edible electronic materials”. “gLIG can be extracted from waste wood, leaves, cork and coal, and other natural sources, allowing the development of flexible and sustainable platforms as an alternative to conventional technologies.”
As disclosed by Forbes, Mattoso is also responsible for introducing nanotechnology and studies with new materials in the Brazilian agro. He explains that cork, which is tree bark, is a substrate that has aroused much interest and is considered a promising source of green graphene, as it can be a hybrid material that ensures flexibility and lightness that contributes to the reduction of electronic waste. .