What is Graphene?

June 10, 2019

by Matt Lloyd
Future of Tech

The Summary:
Graphene rocked media hype back in 2004 when it was billed as a wonder material that was going to supersede virtually every material known to man. It is easy to see why.

Graphene tops the charts in an impressive collection of physical properties. It is:
- The strongest - diamond would break before graphene.   
- The thinnest - only 1 atom thick.
- The best conductor of heat.  

Combine these with the fact that it is also conductive, flexible, transparent and biocompatible and you have to ask: why hasn’t it taken the world by storm already?

The answer is simple, money. Despite the fact that graphene was originally produced using mere cellotape (Nobel Prize 2010), producing it in cheap, high-quality large quantities is still difficult.  

Like most technologies, fundamental change does not happen overnight but the future is certainly bright.  

The Promise:
It is hard to understate the vast variety of uses that this material has been identified for. In 2014, the European Commission commited $1bn in the Graphene Flagship to bring the potential of graphene into the real world. They have identified over 20 key uses for the technology. Here are some that we expect to be the most impactful.

Flexible circuits: Graphene’s unique properties expand the possibilities of today’s electronics. It is enabling devices that are thin, flexible and which could be incorporated into our clothing creating the possibility of smart textiles with unique and interesting properties. With graphenes non-toxicity and general bio-compatibility, we could even see sticker-like devices attached directly to our skin to monitor heart rate, UV exposure and more.  

Rapid-charge batteries: Work funded by Samsung has created the potential for electric car batteries which could fully charge in less than a quarter of the time and increase the range of the vehicles. With the world rapidly needing to move more electric, advances in battery technology are important.

Brain interfacing: This work is slightly further away but one of the most exciting. Graphene has the ability to both detect electrical signals and create them, providing the potential to interface directly in the brain. Potential use cases are restoring sight and responding to neurological conditions like epilepsy and Parkinson's.

It is also important to note that graphene is already in use today providing improvements in rubber, plastics and sports equipment.

The Breakdown:
The incredible properties of graphene mostly result from its atomic structure. Like a diamond, it is made entirely from carbon atoms, however, instead of being arranged in a 3D shape they are arranged in a 2D sheet of repeating hexagons. This structure removes the rigidity of the atoms seen in diamond and gives graphene flexibility. This flexibility contributes to its ability to withstand applied stress and thus it's champion strength.

Graphene has another trick up its sleeve, free electrons! These provide a highway for electric current to pass through just as they do in copper and as you may now expect, graphene does it better. This highway of electrons is also what gives graphene the top prize in thermal conductivity. Through this mechanism, heat energy will rapidly disperse across the flat 2D surface.

The purity of the graphene has a massive impact on these properties and making a material that is only 1 atom thick is not easy. Current methods of industrial production are focused around exfoliation (separating single-layer graphene flakes from graphite) or chemical vapor deposition (forming graphene from a hydrocarbon gas like methane), both have disadvantages. Exfoliation techniques typically yield high quality but small graphene flakes and chemical vapour deposition produces larger graphene sheets but with greater deficiencies.

It’s important to remember that it’s easy for the media to seize on any scientific or technological development as something that’s going to be transformative, but in the case of materials it really just takes time - plastic took over 35 years to become mainstream. The graphene revolution we were promised is already in motion!

Arco’s rating: 8/10

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