• elettronica flessibile
• eterostrutture
• grafene
• ink jet printing
• Materiali 2D
• produzione inchiostri

Can 2D materials open a new breakthrough in everyday life?
Are those capable of retire the silicon technology? Research on graphene and 2D structures is getting more attention every year and they will probably remain the main topic in condensed matter physics and material since for many years. This new class of composite materials can be used in any field of engineering, ranging from its use in chemistry, for example as catalysts or thin liquid or gas barriers, physics, were they are currently widely studied for understanding the nature of matter, and last, but not for importance, in the electronic world where a precise manipulation technique can lead to the biggest development since the discovery of transistors. The family of 2d materials has shown over time a variegate list of electrical properties, ranging from metallic, semimetalic, insulating and most important, semiconducting and photosensitive behavior. Moore law is an empirical relation that predict the average calculus power of processors and follows an exponential evolution. It is reasonable to think that an exponential law can't last forever in the real word, in fact after almost 40 years of correct predictions, its validity started to teetering. This is due we reached the lowest allowable construction limit for the cornerstone of electronic: The MOSFET. The channel length can't be reduced any further or parasitic effects become not negligible and it became almost impossible to drain the heat that is produced. 2D materials are less prone to these effects and they also offer extreme exibility: while bulk silicon is brittle and can't be deformed, 2D materials thanks to their thickness and the layered atomic structure, can be folded without practically change their electronic proprieties.
The last barrier that science must overcome to achieve this breakthrough is a reliable, cheap and scalable mass production system. We will speak about fabrication methods later, here we just want to focus about the reason that have driven us to choose the ink-jet printing. Printers for digital fabrication are now facing their fastest development in they history after their spreading across the SOHO (small offce and home) environment, because they allow scalability, they are cheap, they do not require expensive or specific conditions (like clean rooms or high vacuum) to operate. It is also a simple method that can produce ad hoc devices, since there is no need of masks or rigid patterns. We started from these core points to produce simple electronic devices, starting with conductive graphene lines, capacitors and last vertical heterostructures. Our devices cannot compete with silicon in performances, but the advantages of this novel techniques are uncountable: a production method that is cheap, fast and additive, no specific equipment needed, ink cost limited due abundance of 2D materials, exibility, scalability and eco-friendly.