Welcome to the Materials’ Legoland!
Graphene and 2D materials are the rising stars on the horizon of materials science with tremendous potential for many applications. Graphene single layer isolation (in 2004 in Manchester) resulted with the award of Nobel prize in Physics in 2010 in Novoselov and Geim. The rise of graphene research opened the investigation other non carbon 2D materials, such as transition metal chalgogenides (TMDs), MXenes, phosphorene, etc. Besides the enormous surface/volume ratio, critical for many applications where reactions take place on the surface (e.g. catalysis, energy storage, etc), these layered 2D materials offer a wide gamut of exciting properties such as specific bandgaps, original optical and electrical properties, etc. For instance, in electronics, capitalizing on the variety of 2D monolayers now available (and many more to discover), coupled with the established expertise in silicon technology, we will be able to design new devices and heterojunctions using a “lego-approach” of stacking monolayers of differenet properties and bandgaps. We can indeed apply the motto in science that the “sky is the limit” for graphene and 2D nanomaterials.
The launch of Graphene Flagship project, one of the two most ambitious European projects, in 2012 with transformational impact on science, technology, and society overall, triggered a huge research effort in Europe, and not only, regarding graphene & 2D nanomaterials and their related applications. In 2018 – 2021, Graphene Flagship will be focused to transform fundamental research produced in the period 2013 – 2018 into commercial devices and daily life applications; graphene & 2D nanomaterials will be converted into technology products to generate economic growth, new jobs, and new opportunities. The research and industrial interest in these innovative materials & related products have been skyrocketed since its discovery in 2004: The number of published articles has been jumped from 500 in 2004 to 14000 in 2013, almost 40 publications per day, whereas the market of graphene & 2D nanomaterials is projected to reach US$125 million by 2020, driven by promising new applications in the electronics, healthcare, transport, energy storage, composites, and textile industries. Demand in graphene & 2D nanomaterials is projected to explode in the coming years supported by anticipated technology breakthroughs that will enable successful mass production.
The number of Industrial partners engaged in Graphene Flagship has been rose from 1/6 to 1/3 of the consortium constitution.
This means that in a few year’s time (within the next five years) the research and Industry will request skillful students and employees to support all this effort and technological priority. In contradiction, there are very few isolated courses or modules in Europe (one postgraduate degree and two – four courses) to provide just a short and not complete introduction of the field, and almost none in China or Israel.
According to the Flagship activities so far, all the partners so far are convinced and have agreed that education support education in graphene & 2D nanomaterials is crucial. GREAT project objectives are to develop activities and produce educational products that will offer complete (from the material, device engineering, applications, and market point of view) and multidisciplinary & innovative education in graphene & 2D nanomaterials
This intensive course envisions providing an introduction to graphene &2D materials and the related applications. Our speakers are distinguished scientists in the topics they will present. We hope that this course will inspire you to follow more modules on the topic and join the world effort to advance the related technology
The school is organized by the CRETE Project, Dr. George Kakavelakis (University of Cambridge) and the Hellenic Mediterranean University Nanomaterials for Emerging Devices Research group
