Rice University researchers are bending graphene to meet their
needs with a technique that promises progress on the road to
nano-scale electronic circuits. In a paper published yesterday
in Nature Communications, researchers describe a way to alter
graphene into "hybrid superlattices," a material potentially
suitable for electronics and optical devices. Graphene, which is
a one-atom thick layer of carbon atoms interconnected in a
honeycomb structure, is touted as a wonder material for a
variety of uses, including faster and smaller electronics. As a
material, it has excellent electrical conductivity but because
it is a semimetal, researchers are still seeking ways to stop
the flow of electrons, which would make it usable as a
semiconductor. Rice researchers in James Tour's labs have
developed a technique to alter the surface of graphene by
attaching hydrogen atoms. Making that hydrogenate graphene
material, which is called graphane, paves the way for engineers
to control graphene as a semiconductor for specif