Graphene
Graphene is a remarkable single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice, making it the thinnest known material. It possesses exceptional properties, including high strength—being 100 to 300 times stronger than steel—outstanding electrical and thermal conductivity, and significant elasticity. These characteristics have ushered in advancements in various fields, particularly electronics and biotechnology. Research has demonstrated that graphene can potentially enhance the development of ultra-long-life batteries, significantly impacting energy storage and efficiency.
The discovery of graphene, initially isolated by physicist Andre Geim in 2004, marked a pivotal moment in materials science, leading to a surge of interest and innovation. Since then, numerous patents have emerged globally, indicating its widespread applicability in products such as lightweight, conductive materials, and efficient medical devices. Additionally, researchers are exploring its compatibility with other two-dimensional materials to unlock new functionalities. Despite its promise, challenges remain in cost-effective mass production and comprehensive understanding of its properties, suggesting that graphene research is still evolving. Overall, graphene represents a fascinating frontier with the potential to revolutionize multiple industries.
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Graphene
Graphene is a property of carbon. Carbon is the chemical basis for all life on earth. Harnessing graphene has led to major advances in electronics and biotechnology. The value of graphene is in its transparency, elasticity, density, flexibility, hardness, resistance, and electric and thermal conductivity. Graphene is a chemical element existing in different forms in the same physical two-dimensional state of the atomic scale. When tightly packed, graphene is a layer of carbon atoms bonding together in a honeycomb lattice. Graphene is the thinnest compound scientists have uncovered. It is one atom thick, one hundred to three hundred times stronger than steel with massive tensile stiffness. It conducts heat and electricity more efficiently than other chemical elements. It conducts light and is a major factor in spintronics, i.e., affecting the spin of electrons, magnetic movements, and electronic charge, in solid-state devices. Graphene generates chemical reactions with other substances, and scientists believe graphene has potential for advancing the technology revolution.
Background
Graphite, a mineral occurring naturally on earth, is the most stable form of carbon. Southeastern Europeans were using graphite 3000 years BCE in decorative ceramic paints for pottery. People discovered wider uses for graphite such as making lead pencils, leading scientists to speculate there must be another undiscovered element to graphite. In 1859, Benjamin Brodie studied the structure of graphite. His work was followed up with scientific progress between 1918 and 1925 by other physicists. P.R. Wallace’s study of the theory of graphene in 1947 opened a new field of inquiry that theoretical physicists and chemists continued pursuing for another half-century, setting aside the awareness that graphene was discovered in lab analyses on nickel and silicon carbide.
Andre Geim, a Soviet Union-born University of Manchester professor, discovered graphene from graphite in lab experiments by examining under an electron microscope the tiniest atomic-size particles from graphite grindings. Geim isolated the first two-dimensional material ever discovered. It was a layer of carbon an atom thick with structure and properties about which the physicists had been theorizing. Geim has dedicated most of the rest of his professional career to studying graphene. He and his students uncovered graphene’s field effect, allowing scientists to control the conductivity of graphene. This is one of the defining characteristics of silicon that advanced the entire world of computer chips and computers. Graphene is the thinnest material known in the universe. In the 1970s, chemists figured a way to place carbon monolayers onto other materials. One of the first US patents for graphene production was granted in 2006. Small amounts Geim produced in his lab were not going to satisfy demand. New processes were discovered to produce graphene in large quantities. Geim and his associate were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for their ground-breaking experiments on graphene, not for discovering it.
Further study found ways graphene is used in electrical engineering, medicine, and chemistry. Between 2011 and 2013, graphene-related patents issued by the U.K. Intellectual Property Office rose from 3,018 to 8,416 for products like long-life batteries, computer screens, and desalinization of water.
Graphene Today
New research into graphene is making great strides into finding ways to increase the power density of batteries. Scientists have hopes for graphene to produce ultra-long-life batteries that have less weight, are quicker to charge, and are thinner and less expensive to produce than lithium batteries. Korean-based company Samsung has been awarded the most patents in graphene. Samsung funds research on graphene at a Korean university. Chinese universities are second and third in the number of patents for graphene discoveries, and Rice University in the United States has filed thirty-three patent applications since 2014.
Professor James Tour, a synthetic organic chemist at Rice University, is among the leaders, researching graphene and looking into its possible commercial applications. His lab sold its patents for graphene-infused paint; its conductivity makes it easier to remove ice from helicopter blades; mixed with fluids, graphene increases oil drill efficiency; and graphene is used in materials to make airplane emergency slides and life rafts lighter and safer for passengers. Thus it is expected to save millions of dollars in fuel costs for airlines.
Tour’s associates are experimenting with graphene for help for people with spinal cord injuries. Graphene oxide bonds with radioactive elements, thus the importance of early discoveries in bonding graphene to other substrates. Experiments are attempting to turn the mix into sludge to be scooped away for effective environmental cleanup following radioactive disasters. Improving the mobility of electronic information to flow over graphene surfaces from one point to another will mean increasing the speed of communication a hundred fold or more. In addition to work on graphene by physicists and chemists, biologists are looking to use the graphene nanomaterial. Biologists are working on bonding graphene with chemical groups that might improve therapies and have an effect on cancer and neuronal cells and immune systems. Graphene is being studied for its relation to and interactions with boron nitride, molybdenum sulphate, tungsten, and silicene, all two-dimensional materials as small as atoms. If means of bonding with graphene are discovered, scientists might be able to create new properties.
In June 2016, the University of Exeter announced that their research engineers and physicists discovered a lightweight graphene-adapted material for conducting electricity that substantially improves the effectiveness of large flat flexible lighting. Brightness is increased 50 percent, and GraphExeter as it is called, greatly extends shelf life before needing replacement. Researchers are looking into application for health-light therapies as well. MIT researchers cannot yet fully explain their lab findings showing a relationship between hyper-thin carbon structures and light. Light moves slowly in graphene, and graphene is too thin for light to remain inside, but electrons move quickly inside the graphene honeycomb matrix. Shockwaves are somehow created. Researchers believe their work might lead to new materials making optical computer cores of the future.
Engineers are studying uses for graphene in electronics to make smaller transistors, consume less energy, and scatter heat faster. Many scientists and engineers consider commercial and health applications of graphene are still in a stage of immature or novice technology. There are experiments into bendable smartphones using graphene to create the screens. The primary drawbacks are the cost of high-price equipment and lack of better knowledge of mass production. Corporate funding of university laboratories and leeway given them in other fields of research are today’s model for graphene research and applications.
Bibliography
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Emmio, Nicolette. "Why Do Engineers Care So Much About Graphene?" Electronics 360. Electronics 360, 22 June 2016. Web. 23 June 2016.
Geim, A.K., and K.S. Novoselov. "The Rise of Graphene." Nature Materials. Macmillan Publishers Limited 6 (2007): 183-91. Web. 22 June 2016.
"Graphene-Based Material Illuminates Bright New Future for Flexible Lighting Devices." Nanowerk News: Nanowerk, June 2016. Web. 23 June 2016.
Mertens, Ron. The Graphene Handbook. Graphene-Info, 2016. Print and online.
Poulter, Sean. "Bendable Smartphones Are Coming! Devices With Screens Made From Graphene Are So Flexible They Can Be Worn Like a Bracelet." Mail Online. The Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers Ltd, 24 May 2016. Web. 22 June 2016.
Sabin, Dyani. "Graphene-Based Computers Could Turn Electricity Into Light, Speeding Processing." Inverse, n.p., 23 June 2016. Web. 23 June 2016.