Think big. Despite its research topic, this might well be the motto of the Graphene Flagship, which was launched in 2013: With an overall budget of 1 billion Euros, it was Europe’s largest research initiative to this point, alongside the Human Brain Flagship, which was launched at the identical time. The identical applies to the review article on the consequences of graphene and related materials on health and the environment, which Empa researchers Peter Wick and Tina Bürki just published along with 30 international colleagues within the scientific journal ACS Nano; on 57 pages, they summarize the findings on the health and ecological risks of graphene materials, the reference list includes almost 500 original publications.
A wealth of information — which also gives the all-clear. “We’ve investigated the potential acute effects of assorted graphene and graphene-like materials on the lungs, within the gastrointestinal tract and within the placenta — and no serious acute cell-damaging effects were observed in any of the studies,” says Wick, summarizing the outcomes. Although stress reactions can actually occur in lung cells, the tissue recovers moderately quickly. Nevertheless, a few of the newer 2D materials equivalent to boron nitrides, transition metal dichalcogenides, phosphenes and MXenes haven’t yet been investigated much, Wick points out; further investigations were needed here.
Of their analyses, Wick and Co. didn’t limit themselves to newly produced graphene-like materials, but in addition checked out the complete life cycle of assorted applications of graphene-containing materials. In other words, they investigated questions equivalent to: What happens when these materials are abraded or burnt? Are graphene particles released, and may this wonderful dust harm cells, tissues or the environment?
One example: The addition of just a few percent graphene to polymers, equivalent to epoxy resins or polyamides, significantly improves material properties equivalent to mechanical stability or conductivity, however the abrasion particles don’t cause any graphene-specific nanotoxic effect on the cells and tissues tested. Wick’s team will have the option to proceed this research even after the flagship project has come to an end, also due to funding from the EU as a part of so-called Spearhead projects, of which Wick is deputy head.
Along with Wick’s team, Empa researchers led by Bernd Nowack have used material flow analyses as a part of the Graphene Flagship to calculate the potential future environmental impact of materials containing graphene and have modeled which ecosystems are prone to be impacted and to what extent. Roland Hischier’s team, like Nowack’s at Empa’s Technology and Society lab, used life cycle assessments to analyze the environmental sustainability of various production methods and application examples for various graphene-containing materials. And Roman Fasel’s team from Empa’s nanotech@surfaces lab has advanced the event of electronic components based on narrow graphene ribbons.
A European success story for research and innovation
Launched in 2013, the Graphene Flagship represented a very latest type of joint, coordinated research on an unprecedented scale. The aim of the large-scale project was to bring together researchers from research institutions and industry to bring practical applications based on graphene from the laboratory to the market inside ten years, thereby creating economic growth, latest jobs and latest opportunities for Europe in key technologies. Over its ten-year lifetime, the consortium consisted of greater than 150 academic and industrial research teams in 23 countries plus quite a few associated members.
Last September, the ten-year funding period ended with the Graphene Week in Gothenburg, Sweden. The ultimate report impressively demonstrates the success of the ambitious large-scale project: The Flagship has “produced” almost 5,000 scientific publications and greater than 80 patents. It has created 17 spin-offs within the graphene sector, which have raised a complete of greater than 130 million Euros in enterprise capital. In accordance with a study by the German economic research institute WifOR, the Graphene Flagship has led to a complete added value of around 5.9 billion Euros within the participating countries and created greater than 80,000 latest jobs in Europe. Which means the impact of the Graphene Flagship is greater than 10 times greater than shorter EU projects.
In the midst of the project, Empa received a complete of around three million Swiss francs in funding — which had a “catalytic” effect, as Peter Wick emphasizes: “We’ve roughly tripled this sum through follow-up projects totaling around 5.5 million Swiss francs, including further EU projects, projects funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and direct cooperation projects with our industrial partners — and all this within the last five years.”
However the advantage of such projects goes far beyond the generous funding, emphasizes Wick: “It is actually unique to be involved in such a big project and broad network over such a protracted time frame. On the one hand, it has resulted in quite a few latest collaborations and concepts for projects. However, working along with international partners over such a protracted time frame has a very different quality, we trust one another almost blindly; and such a well-coordinated team is way more efficient and produces higher scientific results,” Wick is convinced. Last but not least, many personal friendships got here about.
A brand new dimension: graphene and other 2D materials
Graphene is an enormously promising material. It consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern and has extraordinary properties: exceptional mechanical strength, flexibility, transparency and outstanding thermal and electrical conductivity. If the already two-dimensional material is spatially restricted much more, for instance right into a narrow ribbon, controllable quantum effects could be created. This might enable a wide selection of applications, from vehicle construction and energy storage to quantum computing.
For a very long time, this “miracle material” existed only in theory. It was not until 2004 that physicists Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim on the University of Manchester were in a position to specifically produce and characterize graphene. To do that, the researchers removed layers of graphite with a chunk of adhesive tape until they’d flakes only one atom thick. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for this work in 2010.
Since then, graphene has been the topic of intensive research. Within the meantime, researchers have discovered more 2D materials, equivalent to graphene-derived graphene acid, graphene oxide and cyanographs, which could have applications in medicine. Researchers wish to use inorganic 2D materials equivalent to boron nitride or MXenes to construct batteries which are more powerful, develop electronic components or improve other materials.
