Eco-friendly graphene ink paves the way for transformative 3D printing applications
Professor Milad Kamkar’s research group has developed the first all-graphene water-based ink for 3D printing via direct ink writing. The ink promises to unlock new possibilities for addressing environmental challenges, such as eliminating invisible electromagnetic pollution from our surroundings.
The eco-friendly graphene ink enables groundbreaking applications in advanced fields, including electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, electronics, and environmental protection while providing a scalable solution for next-generation 3D-printed technologies.
Graphene is a material renowned for its remarkable strength, electrical conductivity, and thermal properties. One of the challenges to the widespread utilization of graphene is that it is typically produced in powder form, which is difficult to handle and limits its full application potential.
Researchers overcame this barrier by precisely engineering the nano-scale surface chemistry of graphene nanosheets to make them dispersible in water, creating a room-temperature printable, eco-friendly ink.
This was achieved via a two-step process, intercalation and exfoliation, allowing for green production of the ink, making it well-suited for commercialization and large-scale manufacturing.
This innovation preserves the nanosheets' conductivity, ensuring their functionality remains intact. These inks can be printed into macro-scale structures that can be utilized to shield against electromagnetic fields (EMF). For example, the ink could be used to print a mesh that can be embedded within hospital walls to protect sensitive equipment and safeguard patients.
Professor Milad Kamkar
“Shaping graphitic materials into complex geometries for advanced applications has long been a critical challenge, limiting their widespread use. With our proposed methods, we can now 3D-print graphene into any shape, enabling the creation of complex graphitic architectures. This breakthrough overcomes previous limitations and unlocks the full potential of graphitic structures for cutting-edge applications.” says Kamkar.
The ability to print intricate structures from graphene opens new avenues for a range of other applications as well, including environmental cleanup, sensors, batteries, printed electronics and glucose monitoring for people with diabetes.
“Our modern technological advancements have come at the cost of new environmental challenges. To survive and address these challenges, we must develop new materials that are more effective than those currently available. This can only be achieved by controlling and fine-tuning material properties across multiple scales, from the molecular and nano levels to the macro scale.” says Kamkar director of the Multiscale Materials Design Lab.
The breakthrough in the ability to shape graphene into 3D structures bridges the gap between theoretical potential and practical application, opening the door to new technologies that could transform industries.
The next step in this research is exploring other advanced applications for these graphitic structures. For instance, since their nano-scale building blocks consist of hydrophobic graphene nanosheets, they can be utilized for oil spill remediation in oceans. Additionally, their surface chemistry can be further engineered for carbon dioxide capture, opening possibilities for addressing pressing environmental challenges.
The study was recently published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A. Kamkar was named as a 2024 Emerging Investigator by the journal as a result of this research.