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The researchers recorded the greatest electrical charge capacity for graphene by eliminating silicon contamination, thus unleashing the potential of the supermaterial.
A RMIT team in Melbourne has demonstrated the efficiency of using pure graphene versus contaminated graphene to build a supercapacitor, doubling the performance of the material and approaching its predicted theoretical capacity.
Ms. Dorna Esrafilzadeh, RMIT: "We believe this contamination is at the heart of many seemingly inconsistent reports on the properties of graphene and perhaps many other two-dimensional atomic-sized materials.
"This level of inconsistency may have blocked the emergence of major industry applications for graphene-based systems. But this also prevents the establishment of regulatory frameworks governing the implementation of these layered nanomaterials, destined to become the backbone of next-generation devices. "
The team, led by Drs. Esrafilzadeh and Rouhollah Ali Jalili, inspected commercial atom-by-atom samples of graphene using a scanning electron and transition microscope.
The tests showed high levels of contamination, the silicon present in natural graphite not being completely eliminated during the treatment. Contaminated materials performed worse than 50% when tested as electrodes.
The two-dimensional property of graphene sheet, which is only one atom thick, is ideal for storing electricity and is a new sensor technology based on large areas.
Graphene conducts heat and electricity 10 times better than copper and has been hailed as a processing material for flexible electronics, computer chips, solar panels, water filters and biological sensors. Performance has been mixed and adoption by the industry has been slow, and the university study has highlighted silicon contamination.
Through the RMIT Center for Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry, the team also used pure graphene to build a versatile moisture sensor with the highest sensitivity and lowest detection limit ever reported.
The RMIT study was published in Nature Communications.
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