Page 13 - Book of Invited & Keynotes Talks

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8 Biannual Conference on Chemistry - CHEM 08

supply in areas with frequent snowfall. It is also used as a smartwatch for
tracking winter sports, such as skiing, to more precisely assess and improve
an athlete’s performance when running, walking or jumping. We utilized a
similar technology for designing and building an electronic skin (e-skin)
with functionalities and mechanical properties that mimic the natural skin.
Unlike current research in this area where tethering to a large battery unit
seems inevitable, the new e-skin contains integrated network of energy
efficient sensors that create their own charge by touching the skin. This
technology can be used to monitor vital signs and chronic medical
conditions and may have great implications in robotics, prosthetics, and
human-computer interface.
These discoveries were made possible through the development of new
functional nanomaterials with interesting and potentially useful
characteristics such as optical, structural and electrochemical properties. At
the forefront of these materials is graphene that was once established as the
thinnest, strongest and most conductive material and today it continues to
attract much attention in the scientific community and triggers significant
industrial interest. The last part of my talk will discuss the efforts our team
is taking to lead the transition of graphene technology from the lab to the
marketplace through a UCLA spinoff known as Nanotech Energy, Inc. After
6 years of development, current production capacity has reached one metric
tons per year, which catalyzed our ability to transform various graphene
discoveries into commercial products, with the very first demonstrations in
EMI shielding materials, printed electronics and more powerful batteries
and supercapacitors.

BOOK OF INVITED SPEAKERS & KEYNOTES CHEM 08 (2020) Page 13