Graphene and free energy - is this a solution?

Disclaimer: I came across an astonishing video today and I read a bit of chatter about it. The video did not seem to mention what was staring me in the eye, so I thought I would connect some things here. It is possible there have been discussions on graphene and/or this energy video, but please hear me out.


Graphene

Graphene is described on wikipedia as "an allotrope of carbon, whose structure is one-atom-thick planar sheets of sp2-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice." Quite basically, it is atomic scale chicken wire constructed of carbon atoms.

Here is the link for reference: en.wikipedia.org...

There is much to read about Graphene, and many links in mainstream media - the 2010 Nobel prize was awarded to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, two Russian scientists based in the UK. So when I say graphene is accepted as real, I'm not lying.

Here is a selection of news on it, though:
news.bbc.co.uk...
www.guardian.co.uk...
www.dailymail.co.uk...
www.youtube.com...


Some Graphene Properties

Super Strong - a clingfilm thick layer could support an elephant
Can be streched by 20% without damage.
Excellent conductor of electricity
Best conductor of heat known to man
Can absorb all wavelengths of light
and some more I can't recall just now.

Now, on to the video I saw. The video goes in depth about how a company called nanoholdings have discovered a way for us to generate electricity through using our windows.

The basis of it he says is, they spray a vapour of graphite which then condenses, forming nanotubes of a chicken wire structure, one atom thick. This is graphene surely!? But he does not say this. The image is exactly the same, and it is described exactly the same. Combined with a polymer, this allows a change of state to reflect all radiation, or to absorb all.

The second part it's better he goes in to detail, but he talks about a substance that changes infared in to electrons - electricity.

The video is below. Is graphene providing a solution to our energy generation? Is the grid of the future us beaming light from one house to another? It seems like graphene is the key to all this to me.

www.youtube.com...

It seems to be nanotubes not graphene, but what do I know

Anyone else able to further the conversation about the power claims?

Also all I ever hear is there's no free energy, blah blah, so if we globally started say using ten percent of the infrared light before it hit the ground, what imbalance would this cause? If any.

Energy from the Sun is not free. There is a nuclear reaction that is supporting that energy. The bottom line is that it is coming from somewhere.

The fabled "free energy" is something that comes from nothing. And of course, even the most advanced technology will need to be manufactured and maintained, so it will have a cost associated with it. Eliminating "free" from the equation.

Not to say things cannot get better with new technology though...

Originally posted by kcoyote



The basis of it he says is, they spray a vapour of graphite which then condenses, forming nanotubes of a chicken wire structure, one atom thick. This is graphene surely!? But he does not say this. The image is exactly the same, and it is described exactly the same. Combined with a polymer, this allows a change of state to reflect all radiation, or to absorb all.

Graphene and nanotubes differ slightly in how they are arranged. Graphene is more accurately described as a sheet of carbon atoms, one layer thick, whereas a nanotube is arranged into, well, a tube.

The second part it's better he goes in to detail, but he talks about a substance that changes infared in to electrons - electricity.

It's pretty nifty, huh? It's not so much that it is 'changing' the IR into electrons, it's more that the energy possessed by the photons are sufficient enough to raise electrons to a higher energy state. I think the term for this particular context is the photovoltaic effect, which is a derivative of the photoelectric effect.

The video is below. Is graphene providing a solution to our energy generation? Is the grid of the future us beaming light from one house to another? It seems like graphene is the key to all this to me.

And this is why there is a lot of research into their potential use in solar cells (among other technologies). There are literally hundreds of thousands of papers on this, so I'll link you a couple for if you're interested:


onlinelibrary.wiley.com...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com...

apl.aip.org...

pubs.acs.org...



The main problem at the moment would be in implementing something so large a scale as what was mentioned int he TED talk you linked. There would of course be a monetary and energy cost associated with the production and then of course you have to deal with the now-nullified grids. To my mind, if it proves to be worth it, it would take some time to be implemented and not everywhere in the world or even everywhere in a single country would be so keen to take it up.

Wow carbon can do dang near anything. I can't wait for a future of mostly carbon based composites and etc for construction and manufacturing use! And it will happen! Just look at aluminum; it started out as a high tech alloy only for use in high end applications.

a reply to: kcoyote

Graphene is amazing technology but I doubt it's usefulness as window solar battery. There are better ways to make free energy.

originally posted by: spacedonk
Also all I ever hear is there's no free energy, blah blah

Solar power is not free energy. See Boncho's post. Otherwise, if we're going to be so fast and loose with definitions then tapping my neighbour's power sockets is free energy.