Graphene ‘retains conductivity when stretched more’

The use of graphene coatings on flexible materials may enable devices to retain conductivity more effectively than most substances due to its two-dimensional (2D) nature, researchers have found.

A study at the Vienna University of Technology on graphene has shown that a 2D material can retain conductivity when stretched or compressed more than a three-dimensional substance, due to the changes in the distance between different atoms.

Commenting on the significance of this difference in practical terms, Prof. Thomas Müller from the university's Photonics Institute said: "A crystal can be stretched by perhaps one percent before it breaks. With 2D materials, deformation of ten or twenty percent is possible."
 
This extra flexibility means graphene could be used effectively in devices that are under frequent stress from mechanical movement.

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, was made possible by a new technique using lasers that could indicate changes in connectivity through red light shone on a material reflecting back as blue, lead author Lukas Mennel explained. 
 
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