Black Phosphorus (Copyright: Detsky-nabytek.info)
Scientists both from Chinese and UK universities have joined forces to develop a new ink that could help improve device performance.
According to ECNS the new breakthrough contains black phosphorus, “a two-dimensional material similar to graphene”, creating an ink that “is compatible with conventional inkjet printers” and can “improve the performance of devices in the cutting-edge field of printed electronics.”
The ink was created as part of a collaboration between researchers from the Hybrid Nanomaterials Engineering Group at Cambridge University’s Graphene Centre, and scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as from both Beijing and Zhejiang Universities.
Both black phosphorus and graphene are “part of a growing family of revolutionary two-dimensional materials that are subject to intense scientific research”, with black phosphorus being less conductive than graphene, though sensitive “to a greater region of the electromagnetic spectrum”.
This makes it perfect for the development of optoelectronic devices “that detect, source or control light” and it “may also have applications in technologies such as flexible, wearable electronics.”
Hu Guohua, who previously led a team of researchers in developing a high-speed method for printed electronics using graphene back in 2015, spearheaded this particular study. Guohua, who is a PhD student at Cambridge, revealed that “the team printed the new ink onto a range of materials.”
“Printing on silicon means it can be used to make transistors or photodetectors,” he told China Daily. “If we print on plastic, it can be used to make flexible devices and on glass for transparent devices.”
While the useful properties of black phosphorus have been known for a while it is only now, with the development of a solution processing technique that converts the bulk crystals into a stable ink, that it could be put to proper use.
“We think we can integrate printed black phosphorus onto existing silicon-based technologies like circuits, sensors, and interactive devices like wearable electronics,” Hu explained.