Technological progress influences history, as seen with bronze, iron, steel, and silicon's impact on society and geopolitics. Now, graphene, a "supermaterial," holds the potential to revolutionize physics and engineering. Researchers worldwide are eagerly studying its extraordinary properties and potential implications.
Nature of Graphene Explained
According to Nanowerk, graphene is a revolutionary 2D material that was first demonstrated in 2004. Researchers overcame skepticism and produced it using tape, leading to remarkable advancements. The Graphene Technology and Innovation Roadmap predicts widespread commercial use by 2025 in products like tires, batteries, sensors, and electronics.
As a substance derived from graphite, graphene is composed of pure carbon that is considered one of nature's essential elements found in everyday objects like pencil leads.
Moreover, this supermaterial is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in hexagons, possessing exceptional strength, conductivity, and impermeability. As experts explained to the news website, this supermaterial represents a new class of two-dimensional materials and serves as the foundation for other graphitic materials like carbon nanotubes.
Repsol added that graphene's exceptional toughness, flexibility, lightness, and high resistance make it 200 times stronger than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
Its standout properties, including high thermal and electrical conductivity, elasticity, toughness, lightness, and resistance, hold significant potential for innovation across various sectors, representing a revolutionary advancement in technology.
Application of Graphenes
Graphene's multitude of extraordinary traits has sparked intensive research into its potential applications, ranging from consumer tech to environmental science. Here are some examples of its applications as per Digital Trends:
- Flexible Electronics- Graphene's high electrical conductivity, flexibility, and transparency properties open up possibilities for durable portable electronics and advanced biomedical applications.
- Mosquito Blocker- Graphene film on the skin could potentially serve as a solution to deter mosquitoes from biting and landing, as demonstrated by research from Brown University, published in 2019, suggesting that it might interfere with their ability to detect prey.
- Nanopores- MIT engineers developed a "roll-to-roll" method in 2018 to create large sheets of graphene with tiny holes, allowing for efficient filtration applications, while initially attempting to create pores in graphene, they discovered that lowering the temperature during its growth led to the desired porous structure.
- Photovoltaics (Solar Cell)- Graphene's high conductivity and transparency make it a promising material for solar cells, potentially surpassing silicon's efficiency in converting solar energy, leading to cheaper and more powerful renewable energy solutions, while also offering possibilities for improved image sensors in devices like cameras.
- Semiconductors- Graphene's high conductivity offers the potential to significantly enhance information transfer speed in semiconductors, as demonstrated by Department of Energy tests showing that semi-conductive polymers conduct electricity faster when placed atop a layer of graphene than on silicon, even when the polymer is thicker, challenging the conventional belief that thinner polymers conduct better.
- Water Filtration- Graphene's unique property of being permeable to water while blocking most other gases and liquids makes it a promising material for filtration applications, from distilling stronger spirits to purifying water from toxins and even desalinating seawater with significantly reduced energy requirements.
RELATED ARTICLE: Graphene-Based Electronics: Can This Replace Silicon Microelectronics, Semiconductors?
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