Graphene is a form of carbon which has recently been receiving a great deal of attention. Some have come to call it “the wonder material” due to its many extraordinary properties. Although isolated in 2004, graphene's properties had been calculated decades earlier. It consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. A single sheet of graphene is stronger than steel and yet remains very flexible, retaining all of its properties despite being bent and unbent multiple times. It is able to sustain extremely high electric current densities, is impermeable to all gasses, has a thermal conductivity double that of diamond and a very high electron mobility at room temperature. It is also easily chemically functionalized, allowing its properties to be increased or modified depending on the method with which it is made, or if it has metal ions within it.
Thanks to these many properties, graphene's potential is almost limitless. Its high electrical properties and impermeability to gasses make it excellent for use in ultracapacitors and fuel cells. Since it is carbon based, it is capable of working well with biological systems, making it ideal for bioapplications. Its thin sheets can be rolled into tubes for nanoelectronics. Its high optical absorption gives it a potential in phototonics, and it can be chemically modified to make it more suitable for each application.
What is Graphene?
There is often a lot of confusion as to what graphene really is. Graphene is defined as a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. However, there a number of materials often described as graphene, despite not matching this description. This is often called “pristine graphene.” The only a few ways to obtain suc...
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10. Stoller, Maryl D., et al., “Graphene Based Ultracapacitors,” Nano Letters 8 (2008). Accessed November 26, doi: 10.1021/nl802558y
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Lovgren, Stefan. Can Art Make Nanotechnology Easier t Understand? 23 December 2003. Web. 3 May 2014. .
Schlesinger, Mordechay. "Electrochemistry Encyclopedia." Electroplating. Department of Physics, University of Windsor, Sept. 2002. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
The catalytic converter is a simple yet fascinating invention that uses precious metals such as platinum palladium, and rhodium as catalyst to cause reduction and oxidation reactions that can reduce dangerous gasses produced by combustion engines by over 95% converting them into less harmful gasses. Even though catalytic converters are quite simple they are still extremely expensive, this is due to the precious metals that are used as catalysts.
Fuel cells could create new markets for steel, electronics, electrical and control industries and other equipment suppliers. They could provide tens of thousands of high-quality jobs and reduce trade deficits.
B: Economic , Planning & Policy, 2(3), 287-295. Eisenstien, P. (2000). Fuel cells get h2
... Science News and Science Jobs from New Scientist - New Scientist. 14 Feb. 2003. Web. The Web.
the discovery of carbon nanotubes, the strongest material known to man, a possible solution has been found.
24. Ujjal Kumar Sur, “Graphene: A Rising Star on the Horizon of Materials Science,” International Journal of Electrochemistry, vol. 2012, Article ID 237689, 12 pages, 2012. doi:10.1155/2012/237689
Diamonds earned its original name from the Greek word “adamas” that means "invisible" (Oldershaw, 2005) because it is considered as the most hard mineral that is cannot scratched in with other minerals. In addition, the diamond is a unique jewel of other gems as formed from a single chemical that is carbon. Furthermore, it is doubtful that diamonds actually contain chemicals that are similar to those of Graphite and charcoal. The difference is only in the process of formation where diamonds are crystallized in the form of a cube under the pressure of large earth pressure and high temperatures up to thousands of degrees Celsius. Thus, the bonds of the carbon atoms in diamond are very strong and uniform to produce crystals that ...
LifeGem has been secretive in order to maintain a “competitive edge over competition”. This has created much debate over the methods they use to convert graphite to diamond.
Diamond is made up of carbon. Another form of pure carbon is graphite. Graphite is the stable form of carbon, found at the earth’s surface. Despite the fact that they have identical chemical composition, the two minerals are drastically different. Diamond is the hardest known substance and is usually light colored and transparent, while graphite is greasy, easily powdered, and very dark in color. Diamond is the hardest gem on Mohs’ hardness scale and graphite is the softest. Diamond is very hard because of its dense packing and interlocking atomic arrangement. Graphite, on the other hand, although it is the same element, is more loosely packed and has a six-sided, layered configuration, which makes it soft (Pough, 1991). The differences between graphite and diamonds are accounted for by the conditions in which they are created.
American Chemical Society. "Carbon nanotubes twice as strong as once thought." ScienceDaily, 16 Sep. 2010. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
A Diamond is one of the two natural minerals that are produced from carbon. The other mineral is Graphite. Even though both of these minerals are produced from the same element ,carbon, they have totally different characteristics. One of the most obvious difference is that Diamond is hard and Graphite is soft. The Diamond is considered to be the most hardest substance found in nature. It scores a perfect ten in hardness. Because of its hardness a tiny Diamond is used as a cutting and drilling tool in industry. Even the Greeks called the Diamond “adamas” which means unconquerable. Diamonds also conducts heat better than any other mineral .
...outcompete fossil fuels, but by using different forms of alternative energy fossil fuels use could be reduced drastically. Now is the time for a conversion from fossil fuels to alternative energy.
Graphite is another form of carbon. It occurs as a mineral in nature, but it can be made artificially from amorphous carbon. One of the main uses for graphite is for its lubricating qualities. Another is for the "lead" in pencils. Graphite is used as a heat resistant material and an electricity conductor. It is also used in nuclear reactors as a lubricator (Kinoshita 119-127).