MIT News April 27, 2020
Polycyclic heavy hydrocarbons (HHs) such as coal, tar, and pitch are a family of materials with extremely rich and complex chemistry, representing a massive opportunity for their use in a range of potential applications. An international team of researchers (USA – MIT, industry, Canada, China) shows that optimal selection of initial HHs based on molecular constituents is essential in tuning the material for a particular and targeted electronic application. Combining the selection of feedstock chemistry (H:C and aromatic content) and controlling variable laser treatment parameters (laser power, speed, and focus) lead to full control over the H:C ratio, sp2 concentration, and degree of graphitic stacking order of the products. The broad intertunability of these factors results from a wide distribution of carbon material crystallinity from amorphous to highly graphitic and a broad distribution of electrical conductivity up to 103 S/m…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
ISchematic of laser ablation of natural HH (coal, MO pitch, and tar). Credit: Science Advances 24 Apr 2020: Vol. 6, no. 17, eaaz5231