The grant, from Lloyd’s Register Foundation, will examine how combining one-atom-thick materials, such as graphene, could create designer materials, fine-tuned to meet the demands of industry and commercial applications. Such materials could have a range of safety applications including flexible optoelectronics, energy harvesting, gas separation and water desalination.
The grant, entitled ‘Designer Nanomaterials assembled from Individual Atomic Planes’, aims to create prototype nanomaterials with designed functional properties through the assembly of atomic planes from a variety of bulk crystals.
Sir Andre Geim, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for demonstrating the properties of graphene, will lead a consortium that includes Harvard University, National University of Singapore, ETH Zurich and the Japanese National Institute for Materials Science.
Prof Geim said: “Our consortium combines the strength of several leading groups from around the world who made their names in research on graphene, other atomically-thin materials and their heterostructures. This area has now matured and is ready for applications.”
Prof Richard Clegg the Foundation’s managing director said: “This consortium has embraced our charitable mission to enhance the safety of life and property, and our hope is that these world class scientists will develop advanced functional materials with the potential to lead to a broad range of safety applications.”
