Abstract:

Since the graphene discovery and its introduction as a wonder material followed by the Nobel Prize awarded in 2010, graphene has attracted the excitement of the scientific community around the world.

In last two decades, the interest was focused not only on exploring graphene’s intrinsic properties but also on its real-life applications.

Moreover, graphene’s success sparked an idea to reach beyond its carbon-based structure. By now, we know there are more than 5,000 layered materials and nearly 3,000 of them can be potentially exfoliated. In such a zoo of materials, each one is an individual species that provides an opportunity to selectively explore ones with desired properties. The uniqueness of 2D structures over their 3D bulk counterparts lies in the dramatic change of the structure’s mechanical and optical properties when thinned down to a few and especially monolayer species. To access such new functionalities, the bulk (3D) material needs to be transformed into the nanosheet (2D) form. This is possible to achieve via Liquid Phase Exfoliation (LPE), which not only allows large-scale production of the broad-size distribution of nanosheets in a compatible solvent but also is applicable to virtually any structure. Among the most popular ones, graphene, WS2, MoS2, black phosphorous, and hexagonal boron nitride belong to the three main building blocks of electronics (conductors, semiconductors, and insulators). Combined with the size selection process which I have developed, the approach opens the door to understand their intrinsic, size dependent properties. The resultant form factor of liquid dispersion enables formulation of the produced materials into inks compatible with various printing techniques and further integration into printable electronics, with examples of biosensors (viral detection) and scaffolds (lumen support) presented in this talk. On the other hand, they can be powdered and utilized as X-Ray contrast enabling and mechanically strengthening nanofillers. Ultimately, 2D materials widely open the door to applications in energy storage, gas sensing, printed electronics, photonics, optoelectronics, and flexible devices as well as enhanced regenerative medicine, drug targeting, and ultrafast communication.

Biography:

Dr. Szydlowska Received her PhD in 2018 from Trinity College Dublin, School of Physics, where she worked on Liquid Phase Exfoliation of layered materials and their intrinsic properties. After the PhD she started her first postdoctoral appointment at University of Heidelberg in Germany, where she was structuring 2D material-based gas sensors.

Since 2021 Dr. Szydlowska was a Benjamin Walter Postdoctoral Fellow

(DFG) at Northwestern University in Chicago, USA, where she worked with Prof. Mark Hersam and Prof. Guillermo Ameer in the Materials Science and Bioengineering departments. During this postdoctoral appointment she mastered various printing technologies and combined them with 2D materials to enable flexible printable sensors and individualized vascular scaffolds. Currently at IMDEA Nanosciencia she is expanding her materials portfolio by MOF-SCOs. Her interdisciplinary work can be described as 2D material-enabled pintables in aid of health systems. She is a physical chemist by training, and curious explorer at heart. Her work was recognized with the Intel Ireland Award and various fellowships. In the past decade, she has carried out her research in Poland, Ireland, China, Germany, and the USA, giving her a truly wide international research perspective. Beyond the lab bench, Dr. Szydlowska is an advocate for diversity and women in science. She is an active member of the diversity advisory board of the Graphene Flagship.