BASF has formed a partnership with National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Graphene Research Centre (GRC) to develop the use of graphene – a 2D form of carbon – in organic electronic devices, such as organic light emitting diodes (OLED). The goal of the collaboration is to interface graphene films with organic electronic materials to create more efficient and more flexible lighting devices.

“Graphene is a fascinating material, with regard to both its electronic properties and its mechanical strength. We have been engaged in the research of graphene for several years and are now ready to enter partnerships in order to complement and speed up our device development,” commented Josef Wünsch, Senior Vice President of Modeling & Formulation Research at BASF, who is also responsible at the firm for incubation in the area of graphene.

The NUS team at GRC will be responsible for the synthesis and characterisation of the graphene. The researchers have already developed a patent-pending methodology for the reliable growth and transfer of high-quality graphene films onto different flexible substrates that can be used in solar cells and lighting panels.

Translating advanced materials
As Wünsch mentioned, BASF has been exploring potential applications of the so-called “wonder material” for some time. In 2012, the chemicals company opened a Carbon Materials Innovation Center at its Ludwigshafen site in Germany. The center was set up in partnership with the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P), and the MPI-P and BASF have been jointly researching graphene since 2008.