Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Graphene
Remember the industrial revolution? No you don't. It was a long time ago, but once given the ability to manufactor cheap steel we completely transformed society. And it is happening again. This new material is a one atom think hexagonal sheet of graphite called graphene and electrons love it! Being one atom thick it allows electricity to flow through it with remarkable ease. It is used to create quick-charge batteries that would take about 3 seconds to charge a smart phone, or about 10 minutes to charge an electric car battery. It converts windows into solar panels. It converts a layer of teflon it into a capacitive touch screen. Graphene also allows capacitors to reach their absolute minimum size with maximum efficiency. And you thought silicon was cool? The real kicker is, it is right around the corner. Like steel, once manufactoring methods reduce the cost to create graphene you can expect to see it pretty much everywhere.
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Thinking of the future of technology always excites me!
ReplyDeleteIt's a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon, not graphite.
ReplyDeleteThat is true more generally. It is carbon, but so is diamond, and coal. But graphite has special properties that those materials do not, such as conductivity. So it is more clear and correct to say it is a single layer of graphite. Quoting wikipedia's article - "Graphene can be described as a one-atom thick layer of the layered mineral graphite."
DeleteI've known this was inevitable. The way society has incorporated technology has demanded such innovation be found.
ReplyDelete