Interview for 2010 Nobel Prize winners in physics: The Right Time for the Real Application of Graphene

If god created the world, Konstantin Novoselov, who won the 2010 Nobel Prize for his work on graphene, is now trying to create something different -- to go beyond graphene itself and design properties from atoms to products on demand to explore new opportunities presented by the two-dimensional material.

Dressed in a white shirt, blue jeans, casual shoes and a backpack, the star of graphene and a renowned professor at the university of Manchester in the United Kingdom made a low-key appearance at the third graphene summit held by the Shenzhen graduate school of Tsinghua university on April 14.

During the interview, the reporter of science and technology daily interviewed the latest research progress of graphene and the current situation of graphene industry.

"Think outside the box and build new materials."

Novoselov Shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics with his mentor, professor andrei heim, for his pioneering experiments with two-dimensional graphene materials when he was just 36 years old.

Thus, the graphene community affectionately called him "little ino."

He remembers the moment he first discovered graphene on a Friday night, thanks to a new concept introduced by professor Heim: "thinking out of the box," which involves thinking about problems outside the mainstream and trying something previously impossible.

And the research he is now working on is once again thinking outside the box.

Graphene is separated from graphite in pencils by taping. This two-dimensional material with excellent properties is the original material in nature and the main research object of many people in the industry.

And novo decided to go beyond graphene itself and create new two-dimensional materials.

One of the main ways to do this is to expand graphene's "circle of friends," adding more friends and exploring interesting properties of graphene that are "exciting" to interact with other two-dimensional materials.

In the laboratory, Xiaonuo selected two-dimensional materials with different properties and superimposed them together with graphene. For example, a layer of boron nitride or molybdenum disulfide, or nitride was attached to the graphene to explore the properties of the interface after their contact.

Some electrons move laterally and arrange themselves;

Some will make LED quantum efficiency greatly improved, and so on.

He said that in the future, it may be possible to arrange molecules artificially according to practical applications, from atoms to products, arbitrarily design electronic and mechanical structures, as well as very complex heterogeneous structures, to create materials that do not exist in the world and endow them with properties not found in nature.

Thus, more potential applications of this material are explored to build an ideal two-dimensional material "museum".

"The real application of graphene is timely."

Novoselov and Heim, two of the world's biggest graphene scientists who worked together, now seem to be taking a very different approach.

Novoselov was clearly interested in designing the next generation of graphene composites.

Carbon for science and technology journal reporter said: "my main job is to do basic research, now focus on microelectronics components field, especially the graphene and other 2 d material together, in principle, to provide a series of interesting subject to study, including electronics, optical, chemical, energy, and biological applications.

At present, I have only made some small attempts in my research to increase the production scale of graphene, explore and add its excellent properties.

But given the time and opportunity, I'd like to do something different to help companies find new USES for graphene.

As for many people's desire for graphene to be used in everyday life as soon as possible, Novoselov pointed out: "graphene products don't come overnight as' killer 'products. It will take a long time for that day to come."

Novoselov stressed, "we are at a stage where we are trying to find some applications for graphene, and there are already some products on the market.

"We need to look not only at the basic science of graphene, but also at its real applications.

"China's graphene research is basically in step with international research"

Today, Novoselov visits China several times a year, sometimes to give academic lectures, sometimes to promote the development of education in universities and research institutions, and to learn about some domestic cooperation projects and promote industrialization.

According to statistics, one third of the papers on graphene published in the world now come from China.

Novoselov gave his thoughts on this.

"From basic research to practical applications of graphene, China is basically in step with the international community," he affirmed. "in some ways it has surpassed the UK, and in some ways it is close to the UK."

Novoselov also gives advice to current students who are working on graphene: "I don't think Chinese students are any different than foreign students, whether it's hard work or intelligence.

I don't usually give advice to anyone, but when it comes to graphene research, I think it's important to stick with yourself, to make a decision to do something that interests you, rather than chasing after what's hot right now, and then just keep going.

Just as he was about to return to China, he received an unusual gift from the graphene industry of China - Ingenious ene-carbon New Materials Co., Ltd.

Among them, the black graphene molecular structure components are printed and shaped by the polymer material containing graphene, which integrates two disruptive technologies of graphene and 3D printing, reflecting the development trend of future science and technology.

Moreover, his name is engraved on it.

Novoselov said with a laugh that when he returned to the university of Manchester in England, he would set up a project for his students to test whether it was conductive.

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