QPress Exfoliator

The exfoliator provides a mechanized version of the manual steps typically used to generate a distribution of substrate-supported flakes from parent crystals of layered materials. The QPress exfoliator uses a roll-to-roll system controlling commercially available adhesive tapes. The exfoliator presses a polymer stamp into a bulk parent crystal and transfers the exfoliated flakes by pressing them onto a substrate. Users can control substrate temperature, application pressure, and tape pull-off angle and speed. By mechanizing the flake generation step, the exfoliator speeds up the process of generating candidate flakes while enabling much more reproducible handling, which can be optimized for a given material.

Status: The exfoliator prototype is ready for use and continues to be progressively refined.