Research
Our members work closely with other members of the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) on cross-cutting themes in science and technology on the nanoscale. We are working with several partners to bring nanotechnology to everyday applications, such as gas sensors and electronic devices.
Sensors
Pressure and presence sensors
We are developing materials, devices and circuits for interaction detection in smart living environments. Research focuses on performance, manufacturability and reliability, and is complemented by software design for event detection.
Gesture sensors and user interaction
Optical detection of user interaction with physical objects forms the basis of the current EPSRC project "Next Generation Paper", a collaboration between Surrey, The Open University, and numerous industrial partners including Novacentrix, USA, and VTT, ifolor and Otava, Finland. Using a mix of optical sensing, printed electronics and flexible hybrid integration of computing and energy management components, the project aims to create new means of bridging the gap between physical and digital content, with an intuitive control interface.
Radu A. Sporea, Brice H. Le Borgne, Samuli Yrjänä, Sirpa Nordman, Tapio Ritvonen, Anu Seisto, George Revill, Miroslav Z. Bober, Alan Brown, Caroline E. Scarles, and David M. Frohlich "Next generation paper: an augmented book platform", Proc. SPIE 10738, Organic and Hybrid Sensors and Bioelectronics XI, 1073811 (14 September 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2320107
Fully printed memristive elements
A simple technique for producing electronic devices which remember their operating history has been developed using additive techniques and eco-friendly functional inks. Such devices are ideal for applications where you don’t need a long-term memory, but rather a processing memory, such as in replicating the complex sense of touch with electronic skin.
The behaviour of these devices has many things in common with systems that are fabricated with sophisticated techniques. Our approach relies on extremely low-cost techniques, which tend to be underestimated, but even such simple fabrication processes can lead to very interesting functionality.
Salonikidou Barbara, Yasunori Takeda, Le Borgne Brice, England Jonathan, Shizuo Tokito, Sporea Radu (2019) Toward Fully Printed Memristive Elements: a-TiO2 Electronic Synapse from Functionalized Nanoparticle Ink., ACS Applied Electronic Materials 1 (12) pp. 2692-2700 American Chemical Society, DOI: 10.1021/acsaelm.9b00701
Energy
Flexible organic solar cells
Hybrid SCs offer numerous application possibilities. They can be rolled and used as a lightweight solar charger or integrated in the facades and windows of buildings improving the aesthetic appearance while generating green electricity at low cost.
Nanofabrication and characterisation
Nanomaterials and nanocomposites
Printed and flexible electronics
We work with a wide range of nanomaterials for device applications such as field-effect transistor (FETs), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), photovoltaics (PVs) and sensors.
Conjugated polymers field-effect transistors
Polymer field-effect transistors (FETs) are promising candidates for the fabrication of low-cost electronic circuits and pixel drivers, due to the potential of depositing all device elements from solution into layered thin-film structures and onto flexible substrates. References: S. Georgakopoulos, D. Sparrowe, F. Meyer, M. Shkunov, “Stability of top- and bottom-gate amorphous polymer field-effect transistors”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 243507, 2010.
