A GODSENT GIFT — GRAPHENE
Chemistry
Not too long ago, advances in technology appeared to be on the wane. Industries languished in their chronically monotonous labour, yearning for some novelty to arrive and breathe into their pining figures a new spirit — a spirit of enterprise and innovation. The situation, however, persisted with its dark clouds lingering seemingly ad infinitum, until finally a light arose and illuminated the path to a newfound treasure.
The ‘wonder material’ graphene is rightfully called so. Although rudimentary in its structure as a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arrayed in hexagonal rings, it offers a grab bag of contrasting properties not known to coexist in any other material. Further, just as engaging as this is, is the story of its discovery, which, meanwhile abutting onto Peniccillins’s by Alexander Fleming, is a beautiful piece of serendipity.
On a Friday afternoon, in one of the august chambers of the historic Manchester University were two Russian-émigré physicists, Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov, diligently employed in their research: they were scrutinizing graphite’s electrical properties to ascertain if it could be used as a transistor, a device constituting the backbone of modern-day computing. After having endeavored for an awful amount of time to no avail, they were now on the verge of giving up. That is when they decided to indulge themselves a little, as though to take a breather, in a somewhat playful experiment using a… Scotch tape! Curious to determine whether they could shed off thinner layers from their lumpy graphite, they stuck tape onto its surface and peeled off a flake. Then they kept peeling off from this original flake until they ended up with a graphite strip merely a few atoms thick. This led them to conjecture that should they follow through the same course, it would eventually yield a graphite sheet only an atom thick — a material promising to exhibit incredible properties — today known as “graphene”.
Graphene is a material marvel in its own right. A transparent solid, it is the lightest and thinnest but the strongest substance— about 100 times stronger than steel — discovered so far. Say, a square meter of graphene, which is about a thousand times thinner than paper, mutated into a hammock would be able to nestle a 4kg cat, meanwhile not tipping the scales any more than one of its whiskers. Not only this, but the stretchability of graphene also allows this hammock to extend to a quarter of its length so as to make some more room for the cat. Additionally, graphene has also taken the lead in thermal and electrical conductivity, with electric current whizzing through it at nearly the speed of light and virtually with no loss. Last but not the least, it is impermeable to the most diminutive of gaseous particles, helium atoms, and yet allows mammoth water particles (in pontification) to pass through it without even having to break a sweat.
This whole gamut of properties makes graphene appealing to a wide range of industries. For the technology sector, it is nothing short of a chimera come true. Its transparency and remarkable conductivity allow it to make new touchscreen interfaces, ushering in a stark new generation of smartphones. Besides, graphene is a superb semiconductor; having surpassed silicon in conductivity by a factor of a thousand, it is bound to replace ubiquitous silicon chips in computers to spur them to reach mind-boggling speeds. Likewise, graphene makes for miraculous superconductors. Superconductors are materials that transmit electric current benignly without any resistance at all. Since most of them work at monumentally low temperatures (precisely, at absolute zero!), there is this need for costly cooling. However, a couple of graphene layers twisted at a ‘magic angle’ has shown to superconduct at relatively higher temperatures and hence constitute a big leap on the way toward room-temperature superconductors. Lastly, amidst all this buzz, talk-of-the-town quantum computers too have managed to snap up their share. A pair of electrons hurtling through graphene can be split up, giving rise to the so-called phenomenon of ‘quantum entanglement to bring down time and computing power in order to process information transfer between qubits.
Alongside, the automotive and aeronautical industry is assured of adequate augmentation as well. Rust-free cars will now be a possibility, as graphene repels water, and so its coating on the surface of steel acts as a barrier, preventing corrosion of compounded iron. Additionally, more robust and lighter planes can be built, which, in turn, cuts down on fuel consumption and hence subsequent carbon littering in the atmosphere. Moreover, temperature of outer space enveloping Earth varies drastically from one part to another. This poses a peril to the orbiting satellites whose temperature has to be kept steady, and with graphene at hand, the upscale of regulation seems well on the cards.
Similarly, other industries too have been aided by graphene. A filter made up of graphene could be just the ticket in desalinating seawater to make it potent, as its minute pores would let water particles to pass through, while capturing the atoms that make up salt. Also, better and greener concrete comes into sight. Blending graphene with concrete creates a composite that is twice as strong and four times as water-resistant as just concrete, and by lowering the amount of materials originally needed to make concrete by one-half, it reduces copious carbon emissions as well. Finally, bounty of graphene extends to the military realm too. It is found that supplementing a polymer with an equal amount of graphene and carbon nanotubes yields a sturdy fiber that can be distilled into fabric used to make bulletproof vests.
“The future lies in pencil graphite!” exclaims Annick Loiseau, from the National Office for Aerospace Studies and Research (ONERA)[1}
Therefore, it comes over as no surprise that graphene’s discovery has been heralded as a major breakthrough in the entire history of science. Scientists believe, however, that this manna from heaven still needs slight cooking before it is ready to be served, and so the flame has been getting turned up more and more recently. Hence, for the time being, let us just subsist on its tantalizing aroma.
Bibliography:
