Jong Bo Park

Ultraclean Patterned Transfer of Single-Layer Graphene by Recyclable Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Films

We report an ultraclean, cost-effective, and easily scalable method of transferring and patterning large-area graphene using pressure sensitive adhesive films (PSAFs) at room temperature. This simple transfer is enabled by the difference in wettability and adhesion energy of graphene with respect to PSAF and a target substrate. The PSAF-transferred graphene is found to be free from residues and shows excellent charge carrier mobility as high as ∼17,700 cm(2)/V·s with less doping compared to the graphene transferred by thermal release tape (TRT) or poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as well as good uniformity over large areas. In addition, the sheet resistance of graphene transferred by recycled PSAF does not change considerably up to 4 times, which would be advantageous for more cost-effective and environmentally friendly production of large-area graphene films for practical applications.

Growth dynamics and gas transport mechanism of nanobubbles in graphene liquid cells

Formation, evolution and vanishing of bubbles are common phenomena in nature, which can be easily observed in boiling or falling water, carbonated drinks, gas-forming electrochemical reactions and so on. However, the morphology and the growth dynamics of the bubbles at nanoscale have not been fully investigated owing to the lack of proper imaging tools that can visualize nanoscale objects in the liquid phase. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that the nanobubbles in water encapsulated by graphene membrane can be visualized by in-situ ultra-high vacuum transmission electron microscopy. Our microscopic results indicate two distinct growth mechanisms of merging nanobubbles and the existence of a critical radius of nanobubbles that determines the unusually long stability of nanobubbles. Interestingly, the gas transport through ultrathin water membranes at nanobubble interface is free from dissolution, which is clearly different from conventional gas transport that includes condensation, transmission and evaporation.

Smart Contact Lenses with Graphene Coating for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding and Dehydration Protection

Recently, smart contact lenses with electronic circuits have been proposed for various sensor and display applications where the use of flexible and biologically stable electrode materials is essential. Graphene is an atomically thin carbon material with a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice that shows outstanding electrical and mechanical properties as well as excellent biocompatibility. In addition, graphene is capable of protecting eyes from electromagnectic (EM) waves that may cause eye diseases such as cataracts. Here, we report a graphene-based highly conducting contact lens platform that reduces the exposure to EM waves and dehydration. The sheet resistance of the graphene on the contact lens is as low as 593 Ω/sq (±9.3%), which persists in an wet environment. The EM wave shielding function of the graphene-coated contact lens was tested on egg whites exposed to strong EM waves inside a microwave oven. The results show that the EM energy is absorbed by graphene and dissipated in the form of thermal radiation so that the damage on the egg whites can be minimized. We also demonstrated the enhanced dehydration protection effect of the graphene-coated lens by monitoring the change in water evaporation rate from the vial capped with the contact lens. Thus, we believe that the graphene-coated contact lens would provide a healthcare and bionic platform for wearable technologies in the future.

Non-destructive electron microscopy imaging and analysis of biological samples with graphene coating

In electron microscopy, charging of non-conductive biological samples by focused electron beams hinders their high-resolution imaging. Gold or platinum coatings have been commonly used to prevent such sample charging, but it disables further quantitative and qualitative chemical analyses by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Here we report that graphene-coating on biological samples enables non-destructive high-resolution imaging by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as well as chemical analysis by EDS, utilizing graphenes transparency to electron beams, high conductivity, outstanding mechanical strength, and flexibility. We believe that the graphene-coated imaging and analysis would provide us a new opportunity to explore various biological phenomena unseen before due to the limitation in sample preparation and image resolution, which will broaden our understanding on the life mechanism of various living organisms.

Roll-to-Roll Laser-Printed Graphene–Graphitic Carbon Electrodes for High-Performance Supercapacitors

Carbon electrodes including graphene and thin graphite films have been utilized for various energy and sensor applications, where the patterning of electrodes is essentially included. Laser scribing in a DVD writer and inkjet printing were used to pattern the graphene-like materials, but the size and speed of fabrication has been limited for practical applications. In this work, we devise a simple strategy to use conventional laser-printer toner materials as precursors for graphitic carbon electrodes. The toner was laser-printed on metal foils, followed by thermal annealing in hydrogen environment, finally resulting in the patterned thin graphitic carbon or graphene electrodes for supercapacitors. The electrochemical cells made of the graphene-graphitic carbon electrodes show remarkably higher energy and power performance compared to conventional supercapacitors. Furthermore, considering the simplicity and scalability of roll-to-roll (R2R) electrode patterning processes, the proposed method would enable cheaper and larger-scale synthesis and patterning of graphene-graphitic carbon electrodes for various energy applications in the future.

Multiscale Modulation of Nanocrystalline Cellulose Hydrogel via Nanocarbon Hybridization for 3D Neuronal Bilayer Formation

Bacterial biopolymers have drawn much attention owing to their unconventional three-dimensional structures and interesting functions, which are closely integrated with bacterial physiology. The nongenetic modulation of bacterial (Acetobacter xylinum) cellulose synthesis via nanocarbon hybridization, and its application to the emulation of layered neuronal tissue, is reported. The controlled dispersion of graphene oxide (GO) nanoflakes into bacterial cellulose (BC) culture media not only induces structural changes within a crystalline cellulose nanofibril, but also modulates their 3D collective association, leading to substantial reduction in Youngs modulus (≈50%) and clear definition of water-hydrogel interfaces. Furthermore, real-time investigation of 3D neuronal networks constructed in this GO-incorporated BC hydrogel with broken chiral nematic ordering revealed the vertical locomotion of growth cones, the accelerated neurite outgrowth (≈100 µm per day) with reduced backward travel length, and the efficient formation of synaptic connectivity with distinct axonal bifurcation abundancy at the ≈750 µm outgrowth from a cell body. In comparison with the pristine BC, GO-BC supports the formation of well-defined neuronal bilayer networks with flattened interfacial profiles and vertical axonal outgrowth, apparently emulating the neuronal development in vivo. We envisioned that our findings may contribute to various applications of engineered BC hydrogel to fundamental neurobiology studies and neural engineering.