Accordion effect makes graphene stretchable

New property of graphene revealed by ultra-clean airless measurement Environment

07-May-2025 - Graphene is a "miracle material": mechanically extremely strong and electrically highly conductive, ideal for related applications. Using a worldwide unique method physicists at the University of Vienna led by Jani Kotakoski have for the first time made graphene drastically more stretchable by ...

What innovation potential does the use of graphene offer for lithium-ion batteries?

10-Apr-2025 - A new publication dealing with the use of graphene in lithium-ion batteries points to the potential of the material: Graphene can significantly improve the performance of batteries in the future. While great progress has been made from a technological perspective, the large-scale use of ...

A toolbox for quantum research

Quantum spin model made from nanographene molecules

18-Mar-2025 - Empa researchers from the nanotech@surfaces laboratory have experimentally recreated another fundamental theoretical model from quantum physics, which goes back to the Nobel Prize laureate Werner Heisenberg. The basis for the successful experiment was a kind of “quantum Lego” made of tiny carbon ...

The molecular pressure cooker

New method for producing nanostructures from molecules

20-Feb-2025 - Basic research in a research museum: a team of nanoscientists in the laboratories of the Deutsches Museum has developed a new method for producing stable molecular nanostructures on inert surfaces. The results of this work have now been published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International ...

Watching the oscillations of an electron sea

Scientists observe and control ultrafast surface waves on graphene

17-Jan-2025 - Imagine standing by a lake and throwing a stone into the water. Waves spread out in circular patterns and can reflect at obstacles and boundaries. Researchers at the University of Regensburg, in collaboration with colleagues from Milan and Pisa, have recreated this everyday phenomenon in a ...

Scientists awarded for innovative 2D materials research

Jena Research Team Receives “Thüringer Forschungspreis”

21-Jun-2024 - For their research into customized 2D materials, a team of four scientists from Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF have been awarded the “Thüringer Forschungspreis” (Thuringian Research Prize). The award for scientific ...

Strengthener for Graphene

Cross-linking graphene nanolayers with rotaxanes

19-Jun-2024 - Layers of carbon atoms in a honeycomb array are a true supermaterial: their unusually high conductivity and favorable mechanical properties could further the development of bendable electronics, new batteries, and innovative composite materials for aeronautics and space flight. However, the ...

Electron vortices in graphene detected

“Thanks to our extremely sensitive sensor and high spatial resolution, we didn’t even need to cool down the graphene...”

14-May-2024 - Researchers at ETH Zurich have, for the first time, made visible how electrons form vortices in a material at room temperature. Their experiment used a quantum sensing microscope with an extremely high resolution. When an ordinary electrical conductor – such as a metal wire – is connected to a ...

Improving sodium ion batteries with mechanically robust nanocellular graphene

16-Apr-2024 - Ever since its discovery in 2004, graphene has been revolutionizing the field of materials science and beyond. Graphene comprises two-dimensional sheets of carbon atoms, bonded into a thin hexagonal shape with a thickness of one atom layer. This gives it remarkable physical and chemical ...

Graphene research: numerous products, no acute dangers

Successful completion of the EU Graphene Flagship

26-Feb-2024 - The largest EU research initiative ever launched has come to a successful end: The Graphene Flagship was officially concluded at the end of last year. Empa researchers were also involved, such as molecular biologist Peter Wick, who was part of the Health and Environment work package from the very ...