Graphene: Imperfect, and Still The Strongest - What Is Graphene, and What Could It Do?

Graphene continues to look like the future of materials science, as researchers have shown that the nanostructure is still the strongest material in the world, even when stitched together in a patchwork. The new study came out from Columbia University showing graphene's strength, even with defects. So, what is graphene, how is it so strong, and what applications might it have in the future?

Graphene is a one-atom-thick layer of carbon that is arranged in a honeycomb lattice. Like all nano-scale materials, having atoms arranged in such a precise framework brings out new characteristics of the material that one wouldn't see in its more macro counterparts. So, graphene, the one-atom thick 2-dimentional-carbon honeycomb, is much stronger than materials simply made out of amalgams of carbon compounds. Check out the video below for a simple explanation.

According to the Science Recorder, James Hone, the study leader and professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University, decided to examine graphene as an imperfect structure. This is because perfectly structured graphene sheets can only be produced in very small sizes and quantities. Larger sheets of graphene would always likely have, for practical purposes, some defects, as what are called "grain boundaries," or imperfect seams, in the graphene sheet are weaker than the rest of the pristine graphene sheet.

Previously, in 2008, Hone and his team published a study on graphene in its perfect form, saying that it was so strong "it would take an elephant, balanced on a pencil, to break through a sheet of graphene the thickness of Saran Wrap," according to NatureWorldNews. In other terms, graphene is the strongest material in the world. But last week, Hone's new study of imperfect graphene, seams and all, found that the wonder material still retains about 90 percent of its strength, leaving it still the strongest material in the world.

"Our findings clearly correct the mistaken consensus that grain boundaries of graphene are weak. This is great news because graphene offers such a plethora of opportunities both for fundamental scientific research and industrial applications," said Gwan-Hyoung Lee, a postdoctoral fellow and member of Hone's team.

So what are these possible applications of graphene? The material, first discovered in 2004 using a graphite rock and some tape, is the thinnest, lightest known material, tougher than diamonds, bendable, stretchable, a great conductor of electricity and heat, and is practically impermeable to anything but water.

Lasers

Graphene, according to Engadget, is the newest material to go into laser development. Graphene has the ability to absorb light effectively over a large range of wavelengths, and then release it in quick bursts, the way lasers do. For practical applications in the future, that means high powered lasers the size of a pencil that is immune to the thermal damage that current lasers suffer.

Cameras

Because of this ability to absorb light over a broad wavelength range, graphene can also be used to develop super-sensitive sensors for digital cameras. Last week researchers in Singapore announced that they created a graphene photodetector about 800 times more sensitive than previous graphene sensors, and about ten times more sensitive than the sensors in our current cameras, according to ExtremeTech.

Foldable Electronics

Want a tablet computer that you can fold up and stick in your briefcase like a copy of the New York Times? That may be in the future with graphene. According to ScienceOmega, scientists at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University have been developing a graphene-based ink that is 250 times more conductive than their previous efforts. Still in its infancy, as more foldable materials are developed, including the bendable, foldable graphene-printed circuits, its possible we may see a future with electronic devices as thin as paper, and just as flexable.

Solar Power

One of the problems with solar power is that some of the materials you need for a solar cell, specifically indium selenide, are pretty expensive, according to CNN. Graphene can help lower those costs, while making solar arrays much less fragile than they currently are. Looking forward even more, scientists at the University of Manchester announced early last month that they had created layers of graphene, along with thin layers of other materials, that were able to absorb sunlight to produce electricity at almost the efficiency of current solar panels, according to the Telegraph.co.uk. Imagine coating your house with a special paint, in the future, that powers all of your electric devices.

Batteries

A couple months ago, a little company that came out of Northwestern University's labs, called SiNode Systems, won a competition for funds to build a lithium ion battery using a "piece of graphene drilled with tiny holes," instead of a conventionally graphite structure, according to GigaOm. The anode of the graphene-incorporating battery can hold about 10 times as much energy, and the graphene helped cut the battery's charging time by about 10 times, compared to a typical lithium ion battery. Imagine a smartphone that holds its charge for half a week and charges in a couple hours. Now think further in the future and imagine electric cars that can drive hundreds of miles on a quick charge.

Not to mention, all electronics could get better, smaller, and smarter in general, but as with all predictions, all of this may or may not happen. Graphene's main challenge to become a viable material in our everyday lives, as with nearly all nanotechnologies, is to be scalable at cost. Right now, even the imperfect-yet-still-world's-strongest graphene of the Columbia Universal study is produced in smaller amounts than we would need for a mass industrial revolution. But keep in mind, we've only known about this material for about a decade, and what happened the last time we discovered an easy way to mass produce a great new material?