Super strong Graphene

By tony leather, 31st Jul 2012 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/b2zwcgt4/
Posted in Wikinut>News>Science

This amazing substance is taken from graphite - pencil lead material - which is in fact weakly bonded layers of carbon atoms, tightly bound hexagons only one atom thick, so that 3,000,000 sheets, one atop another would be a mere1mm thick, so you you can appreciate how remarkable a substance this is

Super strong Graphene

Graphene Sheet

As many news programs and periodicals have pointed out, the most exciting thing to come out of Manchester University in the UK lately is Graphene, seen as the miracle material which will revolutionize the computing industry, among others.

This amazing substance is taken from graphite - pencil lead material - which is in fact weakly bonded layers of carbon atoms, tightly bound hexagons only one atom thick, so that 3,000,000 sheets, one atop another would be a mere1mm thick, so you you can appreciate how remarkable a substance this is.

In 1947, P.R.Wallace was the first to theorize about the band structure of graphite ,not believed able to exist in reality at that time, but 2010 research led to the Nobel prize for physics being awarded to Manchester University scientists working this material, which has truly incredible properties, without a doubt.

Many now believe that Graphene could replace silicon, in computer assemblies, altering completely the future of electrical devices. It is believed to be the strongest and most conductive material ever discovered, with properties sending world media outlets wild with speculation, Graphene being 200 times stronger than structural steel,

As has been pointed out several times now, in order to exert enough pressure to penetrate a cling-film-thin sheet of the stuff, you would need an elephant, balanced on a sharpened pencil tip, though this incredible strength is far from the end of the story, possible applications for use truly staggering, potentially as many as plastics are today used for.

Mobiles that roll up like pencils, or TVs weighing next to nothing, even if wide-screen,are just two tantalizing prospects, and now many scientists are excited enough to be working on projects involving over 200 companies researching 3,000 projects. in the past twelve months alone.

Even clothing, when the technology gets established fully, could be digitized, credit cards of the future having as much processing power as current smart phones. There is the prospect of flexible, transparent electronics much faster than those currently available, and even car tyres could have improved durability through powdered Graphene addition to the molding mix.

Sungkyunkwan University, collaboratiing with Samsung, have demonstrated a 25-inch flexible touch-screen made using grapheme already. IBM/Nokia already developing a 150 gigahertz transistor, four times faster than the best silicon version today available, with the added bonus of possible unlimited processing speed, at least in theory.

Graphene research seems likely to receive, from the European Commission, 1billion euros investment research funding over the next decade, introducing the world to a new electronics, era, excitement generated by Graphene quite infectious. If it really is as superior to silicon as is claimed, then super computers and even artificial intelligence may be closer than ever before to becoming reality, in an awesome and fascinating next few years.

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Meet the author

tony leather
mainly non-fiction articles, though I do write short stories, poetry and descriptive prose as well. Have been writing for over ten years now