LCDs made from graphene

Researchers at the University of Manchester in England have produced tiny liquid crystal devices with electrodes made from graphene — a development that could lead to computer and TV displays based on this technology.

Writing in the American Chemical Society’s journal Nano Letters, Dr Kostya Novoselov and colleagues from The School of Physics and Astronomy and The School of Computer Science, report on the use of graphene as a transparent conductive coating for electro-optical devices — and show that its high transparency and low resistivity make it suitable for electrodes in liquid crystal devices.

Graphene was discovered at the university in 2004, by Prof Andre Geim and Royal Society Research Fellow, Dr Kostya Novoselov. This one-atom-thick gauze of carbon atoms, which resembles chicken wire, has quickly become one of the hottest topics in physics and materials science.

“Graphene is only one atom thick, optically transparent, chemically inert and is an excellent conductor,” said Dr Novoselov, from the Manchester research team.

“These properties seem to make this material an excellent candidate for applications in various electro-optical devices that require conducting but transparent thin films."

They believe graphene should improve the durability and simplify the technology of potential electronic devices that interact with light.

Prof Geim said: “Transparent conducting films are an essential part of many gadgets including common liquid crystal displays (LCDs) for computers, TVs and mobile phones.

“The underlying technology uses thin metal-oxide films based on indium. But indium is becoming an increasingly expensive commodity and, moreover, its supply is expected to be exhausted within 10 years."

The Manchester team has now demonstrated transparent and conductive ultra-thin films that can be produced cheaply by ‘dissolving’ chunks of graphite — an abundant natural resource — into graphene and then spraying the suspension onto a glass surface.

The resulting graphene-based films can be used in LCDs and, to prove the concept, the research team has demonstrated the first liquid crystal devices with graphene electrodes.

Dr Novoselov believes that there are only a few small, incremental steps remain for this technology to reach a mass production stage and graphene-based LCD products could appear in shops as soon as in a few years.