Two members of the School of Physical Sciences and Nanotechnology presented their research in graphene  at the largest European graphene and 2D materials conference.

During the 8th edition of Graphene Conference series in Dresden, Germany, Lorena Layana, undergraduate student of the School of Physical Sciences and Nanotechnology at Yachay Tech University, and her supervisor Dr. Julio Chacón, Assistant Professor of the same School, presented two posters on their work in the field: The use of optical characterization techniques to resolve intrinsic properties in doped and functionalized graphene. Both posters were presented during the second session of the conference between June 27 and 28, 2018.

The whole conference lasted one week from June 26 to 29, 2018. Both Yachay Tech representatives showed their current findings obtained at Yachay Tech, as part of a long standing multidisciplinary European based project in “Functionalized Graphene”. The Graphene Conference series is the largest European event on Graphene and 2D Materials. Over the past 7 editions, the event has strengthened its position as the main meeting point of the world scientific community in this area.

The poster submissions were reviewed and approved by a scientific committee, composed of 20 academics from more than 10 countries. Dr. Julio Chacón and Lorena Layana were the only Ecuadorian representatives during this event. Lorena was the only undergraduate student presenting a poster during this conference; she also won one of the 20 available grants for non European PhD students offered by the Technische Universität Dresden, which highlights the importance of her work in graphene.

Lorena Layana presented a poster about her research on the optical reflectivity in potassium doped graphene. She has worked on this for a whole year under the direction of her advisor, Julio Chacón, Ph.D. On the other hand, Dr. Chacón presented a poster about the “Metrology for precise detection of functional groups in graphene by in-situ Raman spectroscopy”. The importance of being part of this kind of internationally well renowned conferences lies in the scientific dissemination of knowledge and the creation of strong international networks for potential projects.