Speaker
Prof.
Giovanni Fanchini
(The University of Western Ontario)
Description
From the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, recognizing the synthesis of fullerene, to the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics, awarded to the discovery of graphene, carbon-based nanomaterials have evolved into one of the hottest area in materials science. Utilization of large-area graphene thin films as transparent conductors in solar cells and energy-efficient light emitting devices may take significant advantage of a deeper understanding of their electronic and optical properties at the nanoscale. Applications exploiting the extremely high thermal conductivity of these materials are also emerging. A common denominator between many application-oriented graphene-based thin films is in the necessity of understanding their properties when they are interfaced with organic materials, including conducting polymers, organometallic nanoclusters and small polyaromatic molecules. In this presentation, I will review what our group has learned on the physical properties of graphene laminates, graphene-organic nanocomposites and graphene-based organic solar cells. Although all of these properties are reminiscent of the fundamental physics of individual graphene layers, a number of other concepts, related to their nanocomposite nature, are required to design large-area graphene thin films suitable for practical uses.
Primary author
Prof.
Giovanni Fanchini
(The University of Western Ontario)
