MaterialNews vom 06.07.2010 Graphene 2.0: A new approach to
making a unique material Since its discovery, graphene—an
unusual and versatile substance composed of a single-layer
crystal lattice of carbon atoms—has caused much excitement in
the scientific community. Now, Nongjian (NJ) Tao, a researcher
at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has hit
on a new way of making graphene, maximizing the material’s
enormous potential, particularly for use in high-speed
electronic devices. Along with collaborators from Germany’s Max
Planck Institute, the Department of Materials Science and
Engineering, University of Utah, and Tsinghua University,
Beijing, Tao created a graphene transistor composed of 13
benzene rings. The molecule, known as a coronene, shows an
improved electronic band gap, a property which may help to
overcome one of the central obstacles to applying graphene
technology for electronics. Tao is the director of the Biodesign
Institute's Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors and
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