Zhirun Hu

Bio: Zhirun Hu is an academic researcher from University of Manchester. The author has contributed to research in topics: Metamaterial & Coplanar waveguide. The author has an hindex of 24, co-authored 174 publications receiving 2161 citations.

Sustainable production of highly conductive multilayer graphene ink for wireless connectivity and IoT applications.

Abstract: Printed electronics offer a breakthrough in the penetration of information technology into everyday life. The possibility of printing electronic circuits will further promote the spread of the Internet of Things applications. Inks based on graphene have a chance to dominate this technology, as they potentially can be low cost and applied directly on materials like textile and paper. Here we report the environmentally sustainable route of production of graphene ink suitable for screen-printing technology. The use of non-toxic solvent Dihydrolevoglucosenone (Cyrene) significantly speeds up and reduces the cost of the liquid phase exfoliation of graphite. Printing with our ink results in very high conductivity (7.13 × 104 S m−1) devices, which allows us to produce wireless connectivity antenna operational from MHz to tens of GHz, which can be used for wireless data communication and energy harvesting, which brings us very close to the ubiquitous use of printed graphene technology for such applications. Printed conductive inks show promise for future electronic device applications. Here, the authors report synthesis of graphene inks with conductivity of 7.13 × 10^4 S/m by Cyrene assisted liquid phase exfoliation, and their applications in data communication and RF energy harvesting.

Highly Flexible and Conductive Printed Graphene for Wireless Wearable Communications Applications

Abstract: In this paper, we report highly conductive, highly flexible, light weight and low cost printed graphene for wireless wearable communications applications As a proof of concept, printed graphene enabled transmission lines and antennas on paper substrates were designed, fabricated and characterized To explore its potentials in wearable communications applications, mechanically flexible transmission lines and antennas under various bended cases were experimentally studied The measurement results demonstrate that the printed graphene can be used for RF signal transmitting, radiating and receiving, which represents some of the essential functionalities of RF signal processing in wireless wearable communications systems Furthermore, the printed graphene can be processed at low temperature so that it is compatible with heat-sensitive flexible materials like papers and textiles This work brings a step closer to the prospect to implement graphene enabled low cost and environmentally friendly wireless wearable communications systems in the near future

Binder-free highly conductive graphene laminate for low cost printed radio frequency applications

Abstract: In this paper, we demonstrate realization of printable radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna by low temperature processing of graphene ink. The required ultra-low resistance is achieved by rolling compression of binder-free graphene laminate. With compression, the conductivity of graphene laminate is increased by more than 50 times compared to that of as-deposited one. Graphene laminate with conductivity of 4.3 × 104 S/m and sheet resistance of 3.8 Ω/sq (with thickness of 6 μm) is presented. Moreover, the formation of graphene laminate from graphene ink reported here is simple and can be carried out in low temperature (100 °C), significantly reducing the fabrication costs. A dipole antenna based on the highly conductive graphene laminate is further patterned and printed on a normal paper to investigate its RF properties. The performance of the graphene laminate antenna is experimentally measured. The measurement results reveal that graphene laminate antenna can provide practically acceptable retur...

Graphene Nanoflakes Printed Flexible Meandered-Line Dipole Antenna on Paper Substrate for Low-Cost RFID and Sensing Applications

Abstract: In this letter, a graphene nanoflakes printed antenna is presented Graphene nanoflakes conductive ink has been screen-printed on paper substrate and compressed to achieve the conductivity of $\text{043} \times {\text{10}^{\text{5}}} \hbox{\,S/m}$ Low-profile meandered-line dipole antenna has been fabricated as a proof of concept due to its electrically small size and simple structure The maximum gain is measured to be ${-}\hbox{4 dBi}$ , the ${-} \hbox{10-dB}$ bandwidth ranges from 984 to 1052 MHz (667%), and the radiation pattern is verified as being typical radiation patterns of a dipole-type antenna The radiation efficiency is 32% The measurement results reveal that graphene nanoflakes printed antenna can provide practically acceptable return loss, gain, bandwidth, and radiation patterns for mid- and short-range RFID, and sensing applications Furthermore, screen-printing technique employed in this work is of extremely low cost and capable of producing antennas in mass production

Design of broadband and tunable terahertz absorbers based on graphene metasurface: equivalent circuit model approach

Abstract: This study presents an effective method to model, analyse and design graphene metasurface-based terahertz (THz) absorbers using equivalent circuit model approach. Broadband and tunable absorbers consisting of graphene metasurface and metal-backed dielectric layer have been designed based on the formulas derived from this approach and verified by full-wave electromagnetic simulation. By properly constructing the graphene metasurface, broadband absorption over 70% fraction bandwidth has been achieved, showing that graphene can provide a wideband absorption in the low THz spectrum. Furthermore, tunability of the graphene metasurface has also been investigated. It is demonstrated that the absorption peak frequencies can be tuned while maintaining the peak absorption unchanged, which is highly desirable for THz sensing applications.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

The Design and Analysis of Experiments

Abstract: THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTS. By Oscar Kempthorne. New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1952. 631 pp. $8.50. This book by a teacher of statistics (as well as a consultant for \"experimenters\") is a comprehensive study of the philosophical background for the statistical design of experiment. It is necessary to have some facility with algebraic notation and manipulation to be able to use the volume intelligently. The problems are presented from the theoretical point of view, without such practical examples as would be helpful for those not acquainted with mathematics. The mathematical justification for the techniques is given. As a somewhat advanced treatment of the design and analysis of experiments, this volume will be interesting and helpful for many who approach statistics theoretically as well as practically. With emphasis on the \"why,\" and with description given broadly, the author relates the subject matter to the general theory of statistics and to the general problem of experimental inference. MARGARET J. ROBERTSON

Polarization-independent wide-angle triple-band metamaterial absorber.

Abstract: We report the design, fabrication, and measurement of a microwave triple-band absorber. The compact single unit cell consists of three nested electric closed-ring resonators and a metallic ground plane separated by a dielectric layer. Simulation and experimental results show that the absorber has three distinctive absorption peaks at frequencies 4.06GHz, 6.73GHz, and 9.22GHz with the absorption rates of 0.99, 0.93, and 0.95, respectively. The absorber is valid to a wide range of incident angles for both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) polarizations. The triple-band absorber is a promising candidate as absorbing elements in scientific and technical applications because of its multiband absorption, polarization insensitivity, and wide-angle response.