Visiting Prof. Cecilia de Carvalho Castro Silva featured in Nanoscale “Emerging Investigators 2021” issue

by Virginia Greco

A “communication” article authored by Prof. de Carvalho Castro Silva, visiting scientist at the ICN2, has been published online, as part of a special collection of “Nanoscale” dedicated to works carried out by promising early-career researchers.

Prof. Cecilia de Carvalho Castro Silva, assistant professor at MackGraphe – Mackenzie Presbyterian University in São Paulo (Brazil) and visiting scientist in the ICN2 Nanobioelectronics and Biosensors group, was featured in the first Nanoscale Emerging Investigators collection for her work on graphene oxide fibres. This special issue is meant to highlight relevant research carried out by promising scientists in the early stage of their independent career. Contributors were recommended by experts in their field for the potentiality of their work to influence future directions in nanoscience.

The invited paper authored by Prof. de Carvalho Castro Silva and colleagues at the MackGraphe and at the Institute for Technological Research in São Paulo proposes an assembly strategy of graphene oxide fibres that allows structural and dimensional control. Multifunctional fibres based on graphene derivatives find many applications –such as in electrodes for implantable neural interfaces, flexible energy storage devices, and textile-based electronic materials, to mention a few– thanks to their excellent electrical, optical and mechanical properties.

Among the variety of approaches proposed for the assembly of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets into fibre structures, microfluidic spinning has proved to be particularly efficient. The work led by Prof. de Carvalho Castro Silva and senior researcher Dr Mario Gorgora-Rubio demonstrates that a technique known as three-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing can be applied on a microfluidic device to fabricate graphene oxide microfibers with controlled and homogeneous shapes and tunable diameters. Following thermal and microwave treatments allow obtaining reduced graphene oxide (rGO) microfibres with excellent electrical properties.

In the same themed issue of Nanoscale, ICN2 Junior Group Leader Dr Klaas-Jan Tielrooij has also been featured, with a review on hot carriers in graphene (read here the related news item).

Reference article:

F. Rocha, L. Hostert, M. L. M. Bejarano, R. M. Cardoso, M. D. Santos, C. M. Maroneze, M. R. Gongora-Rubio and C. de Carvalho Castro Silva, Graphene oxide fibers by microfluidics assembly: a strategy for structural and dimensional control. Nanoscale, 2021, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/D0NR09166A