There has been a great deal of interest in the potential marriage between printed electronics and graphene, with numerous universities and manufacturers examining the possibilities. Armed with £25 million from the British government and industry partners, Cambridge Graphene Centre opened its doors on Feb. 1, 2013 and is conducting research into the field of graphene. The university just announced a collaboration with Plastic Logic for developing a specific research program for the use of graphene in flexible plastic electronics.

The goal is to develop graphene as a transparent, highly conductive layer for plastic backplanes for LCD and flexible OLED displays, as well as novel transistor structures with graphene-like materials as the active layer. Under the agreement, Plastic Logic donated large-scale deposition equipment to the Cambridge Graphene Centre for manufacturing scale-up, and will provide expertise in volume manufacture of electronics on plastic.

Mike Banach, Ph.D., Plastic Logic’s director of research, said that graphene and graphene-like materials have the ideal combination of electrical and mechanical properties for flexible electronics.

“We envision two-dimensional materials being used for transparent conductors, active layers in transistor devices and potentially barriers,” Banach added.

Led by its director, Professor Andrea C. Ferrari, the Cambridge Graphene Centre’s mission is investigating the science and technology of graphene, carbon allotropes, layered crystals and hybrid nanomaterials. The university has built up a network of 23 industry partners, including AIXTRON, DuPont, Nokia, Philips and other prominent companies, as well as collaboratoons with other UK universities.

Banach said that graphene offers many advantages, including its unique combination of conductivity and transparency, the ability to process from solution, the high charge carrier mobility, and above all, the extreme durability.

Banach said that the gains being made in the field of graphene offer promise for printed electronics.

“Our understanding of graphene is literally changing on a daily basis as the best academic talent world continues to make and discover new properties,” Banach said. “However, there is still a long way to go in harnessing those properties for industrial applications. Plastic Logic will be focusing its attention on this piece of the puzzle.”