Nano-material may revolutionise electronics

The new material - made up of layers of crystal known as molybdenum oxides - has unique properties that encourage the free flow of electrons at ultra-high speeds.

Researchers from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) explain how they adapted a revolutionary material known as graphene to create a new conductive nano-material, the journal Advanced Materials reports.

Graphene created by scientists in Britain won its inventors a Nobel Prize in 2010. While the new material supports high speed electrons, its physical properties stump high-speed electronics, according to a CSIRO statement.

Serge Zhuiykov from the CSIRO said the new nano-material was made up of layered sheets - similar to graphite layers that make up a pencil's core.

"Within these layers, electrons are able to zip through at high speeds with minimal scattering," Zhuiykov said.

"The importance of our breakthrough is how quickly and fluently electrons - which conduct electricity - are able to flow through the new material," he added. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) doctoral researcher Sivacarendran Balendhran led the study.

Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, professor at the RMIT, said the researchers were able to remove "road blocks" that could obstruct the electrons, an essential step for the development of high-speed electronics.

"While more work needs to be done before we can develop actual gadgets using this new 2D nano-material, this breakthrough lays the foundation for a new electronics revolution and we look forward to exploring its potential," he adds.