Descrizione del progetto
Approcci avanzati alla produzione di massa di materiali 2D
I materiali bidimensionali (2D) come il grafene, il nitruro di boro esagonale e il silicene hanno un grande potenziale per le future applicazioni tecnologiche. Tuttavia, la mancanza di metodi di sintesi efficaci ed ecologici ne limita l’uso pratico. I catalizzatori di metalli liquidi offrono una promettente alternativa ai catalizzatori solidi per la produzione continua di materiali 2D di alta qualità ma le conoscenze sulle proprietà catalitiche di questi catalizzatori sono limitate. Il progetto LMCat, finanziato dall’UE, intende creare un laboratorio centrale che collabori con team scientifici e ingegneristici europei per sviluppare metodologie avanzate per lo studio delle reazioni chimiche sui catalizzatori fusi. La ricerca proposta stabilirà la prima efficiente produzione di massa di materiali 2D, aprendo la possibilità di sfruttare le proprietà di questi materiali in applicazioni su scala industriale e dispositivi di uso quotidiano.
Obiettivo
Two-dimensional materials (2DMs) such as graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, silicene and others, are currently amongst the most intensively studied classes of materials that hold great promise for future applications in many technological areas. However, the main hurdle against practical utilization of 2DMs is the lack of effective mass production techniques to satisfy the growing qualitative and quantitative demands for scientific and technological applications. The current state-of-the-art synthesis method of 2DMs involves the dissociative adsorption of gas-phase precursors on a solid catalyst. This process is slow by nature, inefficient, and environmentally unfriendly.
Our analysis and recent experimental evidence suggest that using liquid metal catalysts (LMCats) instead of solid ones bears the prospect of a continuous production of 2DMs with unprecedented quality and production speed. However, the current knowledge about the catalytic properties of LMCats is extremely poor, as they had no technological significance in the past. In fact, there exist no well-established experimental facilities, nor theoretical frameworks to study the ongoing chemical reactions on a molten surface at elevated temperatures and under a reactive gas atmosphere.
Our aim is to establish a central lab under supervision/collaboration of several scientific/engineering teams across Europe to develop an instrumentation/methodology capable of studying the ongoing chemical reactions on the molten catalyst, with the goal to open two new lines of research, namely in situ investigations on the catalytic activity of LMCats in general, and unravelling the growth mechanisms of 2DMs on LMCat surfaces in specific. The gained knowledge will be used to establish the first efficient mass production method for 2DMs using the new LMCat technology. This will open up the possibility of exploiting the unique properties of 2DMs on an industrial scale and in every day devices.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-FETOPEN-1-2016-2017
Meccanismo di finanziamento
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinatore
2311 EZ Leiden
Paesi Bassi