Our Graphene
General Graphene is a leading industrial-scale manufacturer of CVD graphene and carbon films. Using proprietary patented roll-to-roll chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology, we support our customers with a unique CVD graphene and carbon-based materials portfolio that includes – CVD Graphene Films, 3D Graphene Foam, and Pyrolytic Carbon Films.
Our graphene and carbon offerings are derived using CVD techniques, which makes it important to establish a distinction between flake-based graphene and CVD-grown graphene.
Unlike flake-based graphene materials which are derived from the exfoliation of mined graphite, CVD graphene films do not exist in nature and can only be synthesized using specialized CVD equipment. Both flake and CVD graphene have unique properties and applications, but CVD graphene offers properties closer to the theoretical properties reported for graphene.
CVD Graphene Films
Monolayer graphene, also known as single-layer graphene, is a single atom-thick film of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice – possessing exceptional electrical and thermal conductivity. Our monolayer graphene films are available in a polycrystal and large crystal orientations, and offer remarkable performance across flexible electronics applications, with field-effect transistors being the most common use.
3D Graphene Foam
3D graphene foam is prepared using a template-assisted CVD approach wherein a nickel foam substrate is used as the growth catalyst. The high solubility of carbon in nickel drives the growth of a few-layered graphene structure containing nickel. The underlying nickel contents can be etched away following the graphene growth to leave behind a 3D macroscopic, self-standing, porous arrangement of graphene sheets with a sponge-like structure. 3D graphene foam has been utilized as a scaffold biomaterial to provide an ideal microenvironment for stem cell growth, differentiation, and development.
Pyrolytic Carbon
Carbon exists as graphene at the nanoscale, and graphite at the macroscale. However, at the microscale, carbon can be composed of amorphous or pyrolytic carbon structures which lack crystallinity. Using our CVD technology, we deposit pyrolytic carbon thin films (between 50 nm to 2.5 µm thick) directly on quartz, silicon, and ceramic substrates using a single-step transfer-free process.