The GRAPHENE mega thread - because it's technology you need to know about!

Originally posted by Thermo Klein

Originally posted by coreytheconspirator
i heard about this stuff apparently we might see bendable smartphones soon. where can i invest in this stuff?

Currently Samsung has the highest number of patents concerning graphene. One of most advanced companies working with graphene is Nanotrons Corporation, a subsidiary of Agiltron Inc, but both are privately held:

"Agiltron is a revenue growth company, presently having over 100 employees, proudly manufacturing industrial leading products in the US. Agiltron is organized into four business subsidiaries: Agiltron-Fiberoptics, RamanSystems, SensorArrays, and Nanotrons."

I haven't found a good place to invest in this yet but have been preparing a white paper of sorts... I may share it here, we'll see.

edit on 11-1-2012 by Thermo Klein because: (no reason given)

Some interesting news about Agiltron bostonherald.com...

Federal authorities descended this morning upon a Woburn technology company that does substantial business in government contracts. Homeland Security and FBI agents raided Agiltron Inc., on Presidential Way to execute a search warrant and interview company officials, authorities said. No one has been charged, but authorities are investigating the company for possible export violations. The purpose of the search is not immigration-related, officials said.

They were raided by FBI, ICE, HSI yesterday. I seen on local news yesterday that there were around 100 agents, many were armed

Some more information, which I've found over the web about the graphene - it's highlighting it's wide usage and possibilities which are before it:

Just an atom thick and 200 times stronger than steel and a near-perfect conductor

Graphene's future in electronics is all but certain. But to make this carbon supermaterial useful, it needs to be a semiconductor – a material that can switch between insulating and conducting states, which forms the basis for all electronics today.

Graphene could deliver Internet speeds upto a hundred times faster

The use of graphene in telecommunications could dramatically accelerate internet speeds by up to a hundred times, according to new research by scientists at the University of Bath.

Jagged graphene edges can slice into cell membranes

A collaboration of biologists, engineers, and material scientists at Brown University has found that jagged edges of graphene can easily pierce cell membranes, allowing graphene to enter the cell and disrupt normal function.

Looking at that all, we've got a material which in some time will be more popular and commonly used than steel and a silicon is today!

Maybe about time for this thread to be bumped, so newer members and visitors can join in.

Does anyone have an update on any grapheme related discoveries or technologies? For awhile there it seemed like a major innovation was coming every week or so. Thanks for any updates.

a reply to: FutureThinker

Graphene is wonder material. I imagine it could be used to make even more powerful computers, super coolers and very strong lightweight materials unlike now.

Time for a little bump, anyone out there know of any newer technologies spring boarding from this? perhaps one of my older threads in RATS would have been an appropriate link to this thread... or maybe linked in the very near future would be more like it!

Good stuff...

a reply to: Thermo Klein
With announcements made, almost, daily, I'm surprised that nobody is contributing to this thread.

Graphene is superconductive (last week)
Graphene can be used for gene sequencing (last month)
etc.
Link: Science Daily Science Daily Search 'Graphene'

Not to be left out. 3-D Graphene Aerogel (April 2015)


The main use of this will be in flow batteries and filters. Filter water to get Deuterium out in a higher concentration than currently. Flow batteries will be needed for grid-level energy storage and be used as load balancing during peak usage (daytime) and storage during off-peak usage (when everybody is asleep). Both of these uses seem to point to nuclear fusion reactors coming on-line in the not too distant future.

USC and LLNL have made 3-D Graphene Aerogel printed for purpose:

In the future, the researchers believe newly designed 3D-printed supercapacitors will be used to create unique electronics that are currently difficult or even impossible to make using other synthetic methods, including fully customized smartphones and paper-based or foldable devices, while at the same time achieving unprecedented levels of performance.

Source: UC Santa Cruz graduate student makes 'powerful' 3-D printing breakthrough

That is just a fancy way of saying, "Toss your square Li-Ion battery out and we can print a battery that fits inside the shell that fills up the remaining space. It will last longer per charge, charge faster, and make your device less bulky"

I dont want to go off topic here...but when I started reading about the properties of graphene...the Rendlesham UFO incident came to mind. I remember that the witness that walked up to the craft said that it was made of some type of fabric...graphene perhaps ? Of course we can never know but it seems logical.

A nice hypership for outer and inner space ; power plant that lasts forever and a universe to exploit .



Shut up and take my money !


ps excellent thread , thank you OP .

originally posted by: sealing
Could I hop into a Graphene sleeping bag,
and be protected from
Bullets and/or Tornado's ?
And how much would it cost?

How about a jacket with graphene aerogel? Keeps you warm down to -50 C (-58 F) for under 300 USD!

Oros Lukla jacket

Personally, I want the gloves!

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
Yet another announcement!

Source: ExtremeTech - Lithium ‘doping’ turns graphene into a superconductor

The article states that "decorating" (aka, doping) graphene with lithium turns the two into a superconductor. It is still at cryogenic temps (just above liquid helium temps of 4 K around 5 K) but the two work together to crate Cooper Pairs (wikipedia: cooper pairs and phonons) in the graphene making it a superconductor. This was proven in a lab but was predicted by super computer modeling in 2012.

The article is cautious about claiming "Breakthrough!!" but to go from computer simulation to physically realized in a lab is a huge step!

[ETA: Carp! Forgot to state source of the 3D Aerogel: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory u-tube vid]

a reply to: Thermo Klein
Another real world item and this is hyper cool!

A UK startup has created a grapene based super capacitor that charges your mobile device!

So you plug the charger into the wall for five minutes and it is fully charged. You take it with you. Batteries dying? You plug your device in and it charges normally.

The device is scheduled for release "Summer 2016". Being a start up it looks like you help them out by pre-ordering. And not bad for 150 dollars (think it is US) with 20 dollars shipping.

Yeah! Graphene in my pocket!

Site: Zap & Go Charger
Original Source: SpectrumIEEE.org aticle

[ETA: The company plans for a direct replacement to Li-ion battery! This will be cool to keep tabs on.]

Still need viable way of producing sheets.
Maybe polymer sheets, graph/carbon.
In the 2x2m size. Then we can start
building lightweight spacecrafts and the
likes, or if you like tanks and choppers.

Other related materials:
Graphane (Wikipedia Graphene) is a variant on graphene which has hydrogen spaced through the lattice. Its use looks to be used in hydrogen storage

Boron nitrade is another hexagonal 2D structure but unlike graphene this is an insulator. When you can sandwich an insulator around a conductor you can make 3 atom 2D semiconductor which means things like curved displays, wearable tech, etc. Wikipedia Two Dimensional Semiconductor

a reply to: Miccey
Yep. Production-levels are a big hurdle but not the biggest.

Right now we are mostly silicon based with the connection tech between various components figured out at the micon scale. We do not have a way to incorporate the 2D/molecular level of graphene into the existing manufacturing methods.

Physics .org has this article up about silicon-boron-nitrogen compound that hope to make 2D in the future. Since it has silicon in it already the addition to existing manufactured items seems more promising than graphene

The three elements forming the new material all have different sizes; the bonds connecting the atoms are also different. As a result, the sides of the hexagons formed by these atoms are unequal, unlike in graphene. The new material is metallic, but can be made semiconducting easily by attaching other elements on top of the silicon atoms. The presence of silicon also offers the exciting possibility of seamless integration with the current silicon-based technology, allowing the industry to slowly move away from silicon instead of eliminating it completely, all at once.

Source: Physicist discovers new 2D material that could advance material science

So, if all that can be figured out without having to dump everything silicon based that would be better. Looks like the aergel stuff will find easier use as an insulator before grapheme as an everyday item. Manufacturing will probably see grapheme first before every day citizens. Except for the cool jackets and mobile phone charge!

More real world usage!

Graphene and carbon fiber bike tires/rims are being produces by Vittoria.

• G+ reduces temperature build-up
• G+ increases spoke-hole strength measurably
• G+ significantly improves lateral stiffness
• G+ has strong potential for a future product weight reduction

G+ is the registered trademark of our technology partner Directa Plus Ltd

Source: Graphene - No compromise Vittoria.com (video)

They also make mountain bike tires! The addition of grapheme to both rims and tires adds strength while reducing weight. And the price is not bad either. FYI: all items branded "G+" contain grapheme.

Company link: Vittoria home page

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
I know, lame to reply to my own post but saw this, lmao, and had to share!

Graphene – a single-layer lattice of carbon atoms – is yet to make the jump from laboratory to day-to-day life, but that's not stopped researchers coming up with new ways to exploit its marvellous (sic) properties. Belinda Smith reports on five of the latest.

Source, Cosmos magazine Five new uses for miracle material graphene

Obviously they could use a spell checker and a researcher to read ATS! Lets see, jacket, charger, bike tires. Those seem pretty day-to-day to me!

The rest of the article is not bad in the "overview" of possibilities. They are discussing recent discoveries with possible real world applications without a bunch of techno speak.

There have been stories on Physics.org and ScienceDaily about 3D graphene aerogel structures that are frozen. Here is the original source (or least a little more researched with even more explanation)

Link: 3Ders.org Buffalo and K-State scientists develop new technique for 3D printing graphene aerogels

The Kansas State University and State University at Buffalo teams 3D printed graphene aerogel around frozen cubes of water. This creates more of a "box-like" structure instead of the extruded nature in the Lawrence Livermore technique (posted above). The entire K-Buffalo structure is then dry-frozen using liquid nitrogen thereby removing the liquid water. During this process the hydrogen bonds in the aerogel strengthen creating a more rigid structure. The article has more details of what you are seeing in the pictures including the one with the ruler showing various degradation of the 3D structure with the left most one being the one made using their technique.

Included at the end is a video showing their methodology.

Welcome graphene to the third dimension!

BTW: Looks like they were getting a bit artsy by placing their 3D structure on top of some kind of spun fiber (which is what all the photos show if you just use google to find the stories)

Yet more news on 2D grapheme.

This entire article has several interesting properties about apply a wide range of electric frequencies through graphene due to its ability to transfer electricity without energy loss.

Dr Awan said:

"An accurate understanding of the electromagnetic properties of graphene over a broad range of frequencies (from direct current to over 10 GHz) has been an important quest for several groups around the world..."

The study, published in the IOP 2D Materials Journal, was funded by the EU Graphene Flagship, EPSRC, ERC and Nokia Technologies, and the results are now being exploited in developing high-speed and efficient low noise amplifiers, mixers, radiation detectors and novel bio-sensors.

The latter is the focus of a three-year £1 million project funded by the EPSRC on developing highly-sensitive graphene bio-sensors for early detection of dementia (such as Alzheimer's disease) compared to current methods.

Source: Physics.org Electricity can flow through graphene at high frequencies without energy loss

The title should say "a broad range of frequencies" instead of just "high frequencies". The bio sensor sound awesome! They make no mention if this a "physical contact" technology or a "beam and reflect" tech. If it is a "beam and reflect" would be one step closer to a Star Trek-style Tricorder?

And Nokia is interested. Hum. Could this be the end of cell towers as we know them? Just plaster the tallest buildings around with the carrier's network signal? All the article says is that they are interested for the next generation of devices.

More "news" although I think there was a mention last year about the same topic: terahertz radiation.

Items to note in the Wikipedia link: Terahertz radiation

1. Thz radiation is non-ionizing radiation
   
2. Airport (and other) security scanning
   
3. Possible LENR source
   
4. Use of graphene nano-ribbons
   

ScienceDaily has a story up, link: The properties of light can be controlled by means of nanostructures and by nanostructures they mean graphene and silicene (another 2D hexagonal structure analogous to graphene but made with silicon instead of carbon).

The article states that UV light is shined on graphene nano-ribbons which creates a perpendicular THz radiation source. The use of different substances other than graphene (in this case silicene) allows control over various frequencies within the THz range (more uses). The next step is to use different light sources (wavelengths).

If this can be converted to real-world medical equipment you would get a "painless and non-invasive" imaging device that "measures water density in tissue" (close enough to what wiki said that I will source them from the same above link).

This again makes me think of tricorders for some reason. Remember when cellular phones came out and how huge they were? Now look at what you can carry around in your hand.

They say that silicon-boron-nitrogen 2D compound you just mentioned from the University of Kentucky could 'upstage' graphene, but I think there would be different usages for either/both!

There is new on a cross hybrid of silicon and graphene for expected use in solar cells.

Source: Chemistry World Siligraphene gets serious about solar cells

SiC7 siligraphene has an interesting structure with a graphene-like honeycomb lattice, but unlike graphene, its hexagonal rings are irregular. The scientists expect SiC7 siligraphene to be much better than SiC2 (siligraphene and single-layer black phosphorus) at absorbing sunlight

(added parenthesis for SiC2 clarification)

Flexible solar panels with more efficient conversion?! That will be awesome if they can manufacture this as the article states this has been simulated on computer by theoretical scientists.