A new type of high-efficiency nano graphene manufacturing method

Nanographene is a material that is expected to fundamentally improve solar cells, fuel cells, LEDs, etc. Generally, the synthesis of such materials is imprecise and difficult to control. For the first time, researchers have discovered a simple way to obtain precise control over nanographene manufacturing. By doing so, they elucidated the previously unclear chemical processes involved in the production of nanographene.
 
You may have heard of graphene, an atomic-thick carbon molecular sheet that should revolutionize technology. The unit of graphene is called nanographene. These are tailored for specific functions, so their manufacturing process is more complicated than that of ordinary graphene. Nanographene is made by selectively removing hydrogen atoms from organic molecules of carbon and hydrogen. This process is called dehydrogenation.
 
Professor Akitoshi Shiotari, Assistant Professor in the Department of Advanced Materials Science, said: “Dehydrogenation occurs on the surface of metals such as silver, gold or copper that act as catalysts. This material can promote or accelerate the reaction.” “However, relative to the target organic molecules, The surface is relatively large. This increases the difficulty of making specific nano-graphene formation. We need to have a better understanding of the catalytic process and need more precise control methods."

Shiori and his team explored various methods for performing nanographene synthesis and proposed a very efficient method that provides the necessary precise control. They use a special microscope called an atomic force microscope (AFM), which uses nano-needle probes to measure molecular details. The probe can be used not only to detect certain characteristics of individual atoms but also to manipulate them.
 
"We found that the metal probe of AFM can break the carbon-hydrogen bonds in organic molecules." "As long as the tip is so thin, it can be very precise and can break the bond without heat. This means that we can now A more controllable way than ever to manufacture nanographene components."
 
In order to verify what they saw, the research team used a variety of organic compounds, especially two molecules with very different structures, namely paraben and non-paraben, and repeated the process. This shows that the AFM probe in question can extract hydrogen atoms from different types of materials. Such details are very important if this method is to be extended to commercial production methods.
 
Shiori said: "I think this technology may be the ultimate way to create functional nano molecules from the bottom up." "We can use atomic force microscopes to apply other stimuli to target molecules, such as injected electrons, electric fields or repulsive forces. It is really exciting to be able to see, control and manipulate the structure on such a small scale."