Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have successfully fabricated light emitting diodes (LEDs) on the surface of graphene. According to a note from their research, the team was able to create a new electronic component that could become a commercial product. Such diodes are non-toxic and may be cheaper, more stable, and more durable than today's fluorescent lamps.
The current problem is that many UVC lamps contain mercury, and the United Nations Minamata Convention entered into force in 2017, which stipulates measures to phase out mercury mining and reduce mercury use.
The Norwegian research team's invention includes a layer of graphene placed on a glass surface. This creates a substrate for a new diode that generates ultraviolet light. Graphene is a high-quality graphite that can "evolve" into a material composed of a single layer of carbon atoms. It is super strong, super thin and crystalline. The researchers used gallium aluminum nitride (AlGaN) nanowires grown on graphene lattices to form metal contacts of gold and nickel on graphene and nanowires. When graphene and nanowires emit electricity, they emit ultraviolet light. Graphene is transparent to light of all wavelengths, and the light emitted by nanowires is illuminated by graphene and glass, which can combine nanomaterials in this way and create effective LEDs.
The researchers' goal is to make more energy-efficient and cheaper diodes, because today's UV LEDs are expensive because the substrate is made of aluminum nitride. On the other hand, graphene is cheaper to manufacture and requires less material for LED diodes.