Graphene Frontiers, a spinout from the University of Pennsylvania, US, has been awarded $745k from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to demonstrate and develop roll-to-roll production of continuous graphene film. The company, founded in 2011, is using atmospheric-pressure chemical vapour deposition to produce graphene on continuous tapes of copper foil passed through a growth region. This eliminates the need for an expensive vacuum furnace and enables fabrication of graphene films larger than the furnace size. The funding will allow the firm to show that these sheets can be transferred from the metal catalyst to nearly any smooth surface without any high-temperature steps and without the use of harsh chemicals. It’s also worth noting that the transfer process preserves the original metal substrate for reuse, which both lowers production costs and reduces waste. Attracting investment The award is part of the NSF’s Small Business Innovation Research programme, which recognizes “transformational technology with significant societal or commercial impact” – a phrase that could almost be a tagline for graphene, or at least that’s the hope. Governments, especially in Europe and the US, are looking expectantly at graphene to drive economic growth and create new jobs, but some analysts are calling for a more

The post Roll-to-roll production could ramp up market opportunities for graphene has been published on Technology Org.

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