Surendra Kumar Gotherwal, Scientist, Ministry of Electronics and Technology, GOI

Background

The product development and manufacturing sector have not grown at the same pace as that of the IT and ITES industry. This has led to over-dependence on manufacturing hubs outside India for components and material fabrications for Indian-made products. Seldom are many research innovations in material science translated to products due to a lack of manufacturing capabilities locally.

The recent pandemic exposed this limitation, with the supply chain heavily disrupted; many product development activities are either delayed or had to be redesigned, taking into account the local availability of components and raw materials. This dire need has initiated the emphasis on locally developed and manufactured products. The relevance of “Make in India” is amplified by the cumulative effect seen on the growing startups where these manufacturing gaps are now seen as new possibilities for product innovations.

Graphene and other two-dimensional (2D) materials are upcoming materials in electronics and optoelectronics. Graphene exhibits extraordinary electrical and electronic properties and has a huge potential as sensors, micro-electronics, semi-conductor devices, field emission displays, nanoelectrodes for inexpensive organic electronic devices, such as organic photovoltaic (OPVs), liquid-crystal devices (LCDs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), or organic field effect transistors (OFETs), besides the energy conversion devices (e.g., supercapacitors, fuel cells and batteries). It is the thinnest and strongest material in the world ever known. Graphene has good chemical stability, high electrical conductivity and a large surface area while being transparent and lightweight.

The India Innovation Centre for Graphene (IICG) is an initiative funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Govt. of India, the State Govt. of Kerala and Tata Steel Limited, in association with various industries. IICG is implemented jointly by the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), Digital University Kerala (DUK) and Tata Steel Limited. IICG is envisioned to investigate the science and technology of graphene and other 2D materials.  The centre envisages partnering effectively the industrial-academic activities in order to promote innovative and adventurous research with an emphasis on applications.

IICG would attract internationally leading research on graphene into India and bridge the gap between scientific development and industrial applications of graphene in our country. The centre also aims to create facilities and sophisticated equipment to promote research in alignment with industry requirements.

India is bestowed with abundant natural graphite resources, and the establishment of IICG will give the much-needed revival and boost to the graphite and allied industries. In collaboration with these industries, IICG would focus on sustainable and green preparation technology for the cost-effective production of multi-sized graphene powder. This would lead to various practical applications to promote the upgradation of the graphite industry.

1. Main research verticals: Large-scale and large area single/few-layer graphene production in collaboration with graphene industries in India.
2. Nanoscale carbon and other 2D material and its composite technology.
3. Graphene optoelectronic products research and development (graphene intelligent window, graphene touch screen, etc.)
4. Graphene smart integrated devices on flexible/transparent substrates, with the necessary energy storage capability.
5. Graphene energy conversion devices (supercapacitors, fuel cells, and batteries).
6. Advanced lithographic techniques for device fabrication.

The intelligent wearable technology research of graphene materials for sensors and wearable energy devices.An overview of the IICG is given in the figure below:

Overview of India Innovation Centre for Graphene Devices (IICG)

The Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), is a national laboratory dedicated to the research and development of electronic materials, components and devices. As a part of the IICG, C-MET continue to develop various products based on graphene. A few are summarised in the table below:

Energy Storage	Composites & Coatings	Sensors & Actuators	Optoelectronics	Graphene – CMOS Integrated Devices
Targeted Devices Super-Capacitors Batteries Micro Super-Capacitors Flexible Storage Devices	Targeted Devices Nano Composites Inks/Paints Adhesives Thermic Fluids     Nano composites	Targeted Devces Chemical Sensors Gas Sensors Optical Actuators Electrical Actuators Optical Actuation	Targeted Devices Image Sensors Waveguides Optical Limiters Solar Cells   Optical Limiting	Targeted Devices Photo Detectors Multi-State Memory Devices Sensor Platforms   Graphene

Summing Up

The India Innovation Centre for Graphene (IICG) would be established as a national facility, which would focus both on research and development as well as product development activities. It would be part of the larger start-ups and electronics ecosystem being built in Kerala, with the support of the central and state government along with industrial support. IICG would establish state-of-the-art facilities for the development of devices based on graphene and other 2D materials and support industries to roll out commercially viable products. This would enable India to carve its own niche in the ever growing global market of 2D materials and devices.