Plasma

Despite its unique physical properties, graphene is chemically inert. Finding cost-effective and environmentally friendly ways to chemically modify graphene (for incorporation into other materials) without destroying its physical properties poses a major challenge to scientist and technologist. This has hindered the wide-spread uptake of graphene-enhanced products. Vacuum-based plasma treatment of graphene has offered a potential solution, through the chemical functionalisation of the material allowing it to be incorporated into a variety of materials matrices. However, this approach has only had limited success and impact because the modification of the graphene is not well defined and the material itself can be damaged in the plasma process. This means dispersions of graphene often required in industrial processes are unstable leading to the unique properties of graphene not being realised. This project will allow Emyrus Ltd to test the technical feasibility of a new, disruptive plasma-based process which can overcome the problems seen with current plasma technologies.