Flatlands - beyond graphene

(Nanowerk News) AMBER, the Science Foundation Ireland funded materials science centre based at Trinity College Dublin is hosting a major international conference which brings 20 of the world’s top scientists to Dublin. The three-day conference, which runs from 9-11 July at Trinity College Dublin, will focus on the 2-dimensional nanomaterials of the future and their potential to transform energy and computer technology.
Flatlands Beyond Graphene 2014
'Flatlands Beyond Graphene 2014' will bring together world-leading experts in the area of 2D nanomaterials. It will focus on recent advances in controlling and characterising the properties of these materials, with a particular emphasis on electronic, photonic and spintronic applications. This conference builds on one previous meeting in this series held in Bremen in 2013 and 6 conferences of its ancestral series, Nanostructures of Transition Metal Chalcogenides (TMCN) which have run from 2007 to 2012.
Researchers from China, Israel, Singapore and USA will be among the attendees who will give keynote speeches and participate in workshops and panel discussions. Topics include the synthesis of new 2D materials for both research and industrial uses and applications of nano-materials in energy generation, electronics, optics and composites such as stronger but lighter plastic materials.
Special guest Professor Andrea Ferrari, Chairman of the Executive Board for the Graphene Flagship will be speaking at the conference. The Graphene Flagship is a €1 billion project set up by the European Commission to examine the future potentially life-changing application of graphene. It is suggested that graphene – a single sheet of atoms - could transform every material that we use.
Organisers of the event include three AMBER researchers who are participating in the EU Graphene Flagship - Professor Jonathan Coleman, who recently discovered how to produce graphene on an industrial scale – a world first –; Professor Valeria Nicolosi, an eminent physicist who joined AMBER from Oxford to further her materials science research and Prof Georg Duesberg, a graphene specialist capable of growing large defect-free graphene flakes.
Commenting, Professor Coleman said, “Ireland is considered a leading nation when it comes to materials science – we are 8th in the world, which is a significant ranking. This conference aims to bring together the leading international scientists in this area, to examine and discuss the opportunities for, and the challenges facing, materials science”.
Professor Valeria Nicolosi said, “Graphene has been identified as a game-changer in materials science and its potential use in industry – particularly energy and ICT - could be transformative. Flatlands offers a platform to debate and examine other similar 2D materials and their potential with our international counterparts – a hugely important element of scientific endeavour.”
Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Irish Government said, “Ireland is leading the international discussion on materials science by hosting Flatlands. It will provide excellent networking opportunities, which are important as Ireland grows its links with our international counterparts. The science ecosystem is no longer confined to Ireland and growing links with European and worldwide researchers is key, particularly as Irish researchers compete for funding through Horizon 2020.”
Source: Trinity College Dublin