The Wonder Material

Graphene The Wonder Material

Graphene is single layer of pure carbon atoms in the form of two dimensional hexagonal honeycomb lattice. It is a single layer of graphite and is the basic structural element for graphite. Graphene is not new;unknowinglyit has been producedin small quantities using pencils and other similar applications of graphite for a long time.In 1962,using an electron microscopeto observe graphene, but not to study it any further.It was later rediscovered at the University of Manchester in 2004 using a very simple method called the “scotch tape method” were normal scotch tape -adhesive tape- is used on a sample of graphite and then folding and peeling the tape several times to create progressively thinner layers of graphite, eventually leading to a single layer of carbon. For discovering Graphene and for their pioneering studies of the material, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov shared the 2010 the Nobel Prize for Physics. Graphene is often dubbed "the wonder material" because of its many fascinating and extraordinary properties. It is the thinnest and lightest material known to man at one atom thick and a square meter coming at around .77 milligrams. Graphene is the strongest and hardest material ever recorded, a hundred to three hundred times stronger than A36 structural steel, at 130 giga Pascal's is more than forty times harder than diamond. Graphene is also the best conductor for electricity with electron mobility up to 200,000 cm2/Vs and thermal conductivity of about 5000 W/mK. It is transparent at 97.7% transmittance across the optical and IR regions. These properties, which promise many applications in various fields improving upon existing technology from composites industries to Electronics and many more. Paving the way for ultrafast transistors, better touch screen displays, High frequency low power electronics applications, electrical energy storage and renewable energy are only a few of possible applications for Graphene. Because Graphene basic element is carbon, which is one of the most abundant elements on earth and because it has literally endless applications, the possibilities of achievements are wide open. Now it has become conceivable to imagine such amazing prospective situations as lightning fast, yet super small computers, smart phones that last weeks between recharging, and computers that can be fold up and carried in pockets everywhere. ENG maithm shaban