Graphene is tougher than steel - about 200 times stronger than the toughest steel and is just 1 atom thick !! The toughest material is just 1 atom thick? This is just mind blowing. It has incredible properties for real world applications -
These properties of graphene can be used to make different things. But first, how is it made? Pencil + Sticking Tape = Graphene!The title seems to be crazy, but its true! All you need to build graphene is a pencil and a tape. Stick some graphite from the pencil to the tape, then stick another layer of tape to it and then pull the layers apart. Now, put another layer of the tape on it and pull apart. Repeat this several times and you will end up with graphene. Though this graphene layer would be small and almost impossible to be practically used, but this is it - its graphene. Now, how does it work? The Pencil lead is made up of graphite and graphite is nothing but several layers of graphene stacked up together. So, when you pull apart the 2 layers of tape, you actually pull apart the layers of graphene from graphite. When you have separated the several layers of graphene, you finally get a single layer of graphene. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of University of Manchester, UK won the Nobel Prize for Physics 2010 for the discovery of Graphene using this super simple method! Graphite leads are easily broken. Then how can graphene be so tough? When you break the graphite leads, you are separating the layers of graphene apart. Those layers are bonded with each other with weak bonds and so, separate easily. You can't actually make graphene at a big scale with pencil and tape method. So, we need a better method to make it. We need an industrial method to make graphene. Chemical Vapour DepositionIn this process, hot gaseous carbon is sprayed onto a copper (or some other specific metal like nickel) plate. When the gaseous carbon comes in contact with the hot plate in a furnace, a solid film of graphene is deposited over the copper plate. But there is a problem with this. Once the graphene film is formed over the copper plate, it is then very difficult to extract it without contaminating it. There are some modifications to this that make extracting graphene easier. The copper plate is placed over a silicon substrate. Now, like the above process, graphene is grown on the copper plate. The copper is then just etched away using wet-etching process. The graphene film is then left over the silicon. These techniques are good but expensive. We are still developing different processes to produce graphene in bulk quantities and have been able to reduce the costs till a certain extend, but not very much. A Battery that Charges in Seconds!!Graphene's conductive properties has great applications. One of it is that it can be used to create super capacitors that can store a great amount of charge for a long time. This super capacitor can be used to replace batteries. And it can hold a lot of charge similar to your smartphone batteries. So, what is so special about it when compared to batteries? It is the fact that capacitors charge really quickly and due to graphene's high conductivity, it gets charged even quicker. How quick is it? It charges within seconds. Now no need to wait forever to charge your smartphone batteries! This isn't the only benefit. It is even eco-friendly! The graphene batteries (the super capacitor) would be made only of carbon and nothing else. So, it would be biodegradable (Yay! Biodegradable Batteries!) When your batteries go waste, put them into you plants and it will make the plants live longer (make the soil more fertile). These batteries have zero polluting effects and are better to use than ordinary batteries. There is no reason not to use them. Get a Shatter Proof ScreenGraphene has super incredible conducting properties. It is also super transparent. Because of this, it can be used in creating touch screens for smartphones and different devices. The conducting layer of the touch screen can be replaced with a graphene layer. This will make the screens really efficient. Also, we earlier had discovered that graphene is 200 times tougher than steel and so, the screens made from graphene would be 200 times stronger than steel!! Creating Tougher MaterialsGraphene is very strong and light. It can thus be used in combination with other materials to form ultra-strong composite materials. These materials would prove useful in creating strong aircraft or spacecraft parts. Space crafts of the future would need to be strong to be able to survive in the dangerous environment of space and graphene could be the key to create ultra strong space materials. Filtering The Dirtiest WaterGraphene layers can be used for ultrafiltration processes to filter out pure water. Graphene allows water to pass through it while doesn't allow almost any other molecule to pass through it. It doesn't even allow helium molecules to pass through. So, it can be used to filter out water from all other things. The Graphene layer is very thin, which means lesser pressure has to be applied for ultrafiltration than the current ultrafiltration processes. We can hence easily filter even the dirtiest water on earth. All water on earth would be drinkable. Creating Better Solar PanelsToday's solar panels are silicon based. These are very expensive to produce. Silicon panels also aren't very efficient. They loose much of the energy gained from sunlight in form of heat. They absorb only specific wavelengths of light to produce electricity. Graphene helps in overcoming these limitations. Almost all the energy gained from sunlight is converted to electricity. They can absorb all wavelengths of light to produce electricity from them. But it has a limitation that it can only absorb a small fraction of light incident on it (about 2.7% of the white light). Besides this, it is very thin, light and flexible. These solar panels could be fitted almost anywhere. It could be placed on your clothing to charge your phone. Graphene is transparent and so Graphene solar panels could be placed on your windows. It could prove useful in creating solar panels. ConclusionGraphene is an incredible material and has promising properties for using in various commercial applications. It is even biodegradable and eco-friendly. The only limitation to it is the lack of a good industrial method to make graphene in large quantities. Thanks for Reading! Do share and comment.
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AuthorAnish Sharma - A Student and the owner of this website. Archives |