BOOKMARK
  • Korean|
  • Chinese|
  • Japanese|
  • Vietnamese
본문내용 바로가기

Aju Business Daily

SEARCH
  • ECONOMY
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • IT
  • South Korea
  • North Korea
  • WORLD
  • SPORTS
  • LIFESTYLE
  • AUTO MOTIVE
  • OPINION
  • PEOPLE
  • MILITARY
Home > Tech > article

[FOCUS] Researchers find new method to produce large single-crystal metal foils

Lim Chang-won Reporter(cwlim34@ajunews.com) | Posted : October 19, 2018, 11:33 | Updated : October 19, 2018, 11:33
  • 트위터
  • 페이스북
  • 웨이보

[Courtesy of the Institute for Basic Science]


SEOUL -- Researchers in the state-run Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in South Korea have discovered a new method to significantly reduce the cost of producing large and defectless single-crystal metal foils that could be used in many fields.

The new technique opened the way for the commercialization of single crystal metals and the development of next-generation electronic materials, the institute said in a statement on Friday. A related research paper was published in the prominent academic journal of Science.

The structure of metal materials bears some defects, known as grain boundaries, on the borders between each patch. Such defects worsen electrical and sometimes mechanical properties. Single crystal metals have no grain boundaries and show higher electrical conductivity and other enhanced qualities.
 

[Courtesy of the Institute for Basic Science]


Certain single crystal metals, such as copper, nickel, and cobalt, which are suitable for the growth of defectless graphene, boron nitride and diamond, are expensive. Conventional approaches or others based on the deposition of thin metal films on single crystal inorganic substrates achieve small single crystals at high processing costs.

A new method to obtain large single crystals up to 32 square centimers, made of copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum, or palladium, was invented by a research group at the IBS Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials heded by Director Rodney Ruoff. The research also involved other scientists including Yoo Won-jong of Sungkyunkwan University and Shin Hyung-joon of the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST).

Researchers used "Contact-Free Annealing (CFA) to convert inexpensive polycrystalline metal foils into single-crystal metal foils. CFA involves heating polycrystalline metal foils to a temperature slightly below the melting point of each metal, the institute said, adding the method required no single crystal seeds or templates, which limit the maximum crystal size, and was tested with five different types of metal foils -- copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum and palladium.

It resulted in a "colossal grain growth," reaching up to 32 square centimeters for copper. Quartz holders and a rod were used to hang the metal foil, like clothes suspended on clotheslines, but details of the experiment varied according to the metals used.

Scientists have also achieved single crystals from nickel and cobalt foils, each about 11 square centimeters, the institute said, adding that the industrial production of larger foils is possible by using a different furnace.

"These large single crystal metal foils are useful in several applications," such as growing graphene, the institute said. The new single crystal copper foil showed improved electrical properties and researchers measured a seven percent increase in the room temperature electrical conductivity of the single crystal copper foil, compared to the commercially-available polycrystalline foil.

"Now that we have explored these five metals and invented a straightforward scalable method to make such large single crystals, there's the exciting question of whether other types of polycrystalline metal films, such as iron, can also be converted to single crystals," Ruoff and Jin Sung-hwan, the first author of the study, said in the IBS statement.

"Now that these cheap single crystal metal foils are available, it will be tremendously exciting to see how they are used by the scientific and engineering communities," Ruoff said.

  • Lim Chang-won Reporter
  • email : cwlim34@ajunews.com
© Aju Business Daily & www.ajunews.com Copyright: All materials on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the authorization from the Aju News Corporation.
  • twitter
  • facebook
  • weibo
  • link copy
  • LIST
  • TOP

Related news

  • .S. Korean researchers develop new hole-transporting material for perovskite solar cells.
    S. Korean researchers develop new hole-transporting material…
  • .Researchers develop efficient, eco-friendly technology to produce ammonia.
    Researchers develop efficient, eco-friendly technology to pr…
  • .Researchers open AI research hub to accelerate corporate digital transformation.
    Researchers open AI research hub to accelerate corporate dig…
  • .Research center built in Ulsan to commercialize seawater battery products.
    Research center built in Ulsan to commercialize seawater bat…
  • .UNIST leads state project to build 3D printing technology center .
    UNIST leads state project to build 3D printing technology ce…

Real Time Photo News

  • .Singer HyunA to end 14-month hiatus with mini-album Im Not Cool.

    Singer HyunA to end 14-month hiatus with mini-album 'I'm Not Cool'

  • .NCSofts global K-pop fan community platform to service original content including songs.

    NCSoft's global K-pop fan community platform to service original content including songs

  • .Singer IU drops teaser image for upcoming full album.

    Singer IU drops teaser image for upcoming full album

  • .Cube Entertainment partners with web comics company to create online video content.

    Cube Entertainment partners with web comics company to create online video content

  • .Sci-fi film starring Song Joong-ki to be reelased on Netflix in February.

    Sci-fi film starring Song Joong-ki to be reelased on Netflix in February

Latest News

more+

  • LA-bound Maersk containership loses some 750 containers overboard in Pacific
  • SK Bioscience selected to manage COVID-19 vaccine distribution in S. Korea
  • S. Korea finalizes official process of imposing 513% tariff on imported rice
  • Verizon becomes first to deploy Samsung's fully virtualized 5G solutions
  • Singer HyunA to end 14-month hiatus with mini-album 'I'm Not Cool'
Aju Business Daily
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • PRIVACY STATEMENT
  • Copyright Policy

Address : Aju News Corporation LEEMA Building, 11th floor, 42, Jong-ro 1-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul.    Mail : swatchsjp@ajunews.com

Copyright ⓒ 2016 By Ajunews Corporation, All Rights Reserved.

Mobile view