Grant: Canada Research Chairs

Carbon-based materials are at the core of nanotechnology research. The 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics awarded to the discovery of graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, has opened an even more vigorous quest for translating into commercial applications the tremendous amount of fundamental physics that is being accumulated in this field. Our research is focused on the physics and applications of solution-processed, large-area graphene thin films prepared by assembling graphene platelets like jigsaw puzzles to cover large areas of a substrate. These films are used as platforms for cost-effectively assembling a number of futuristic devices including: flexible plastic solar cells, filtration devices for water purification and biosensing, and thermal sinks for electronic applications. Specialized tools based on nano-optics are used by our group to optimize graphene thin films for specific applications.