The study, published in the prestigious journal Science Advances, presents a simple and innovative method for making new materials that combine the extraordinary properties displayed by single metal atoms with the strength, flexibility and versatility of graphene.

Graphene is a material consisting of a two-dimensional network of carbon discovered in 2004 that has had a huge impact on the scientific community, leading to its discoverers being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010.

The proposed method consists of depositing metal atoms, such as cobalt, in a controlled manner during the formation of the graphene layer on a nickel surface. Some of these atoms are incorporated into the carbon network of graphene, creating a material with exceptional properties of strength, reactivity and stability even under critical conditions.

The new material can be detached from the substrate while retaining its original structure and is therefore potentially usable in applications in catalysis, spintronics and electronic devices.

The work presented is the result of an international collaboration between researchers from CNR-IOM (Materials Foundry), the University of Trieste, the University of Milan Bicocca and the University of Vienna.

Giovanni Comelli, UniTS: ‘The contribution of different and complementary skills was decisive in demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach, which is both simple and powerful at the same time.’

Cristina Africh (CNR-IOM): ‘It is still a preliminary result, but already very promising, the result of an original idea born in our laboratory that initially seemed unfeasible.’

Cristiana Di Valentin (University of Milan Bicocca): ‘We have applied this method to trap nickel and cobalt atoms, but our calculations say that the use could be extended to other metals for different applications.’

Jani Kotakoski (University of Vienna): ‘We have shown that this material survives even critical conditions, including the electrochemical environments used for fuel cell and battery applications.’

Published article

V. Chesnyak, D. Perilli, M. Panighel, A. Namar, A. Markevich, T. An Bui, A. Ugolotti, A. Farooq, M. Stredansky, C. Kofler, C. Cepek, G. Comelli, J. Kotakoski, C. Di Valentin, C. Africh. Scalable bottom-up synthesis of Co-Ni-doped graphene. Science Advances vol, issue (2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado8956