Welcome everyone, to another science based article, this time we are going to talk about Graphite and Graphene. Both materials are used for various purposes, and Graphene is actually made from graphite.
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Graphite
Graphite is a carbon material that could actually be a diamond if it was formed deeper in the earths crust. It is gray-black with a shiny black look. It is unique since it has the abilities of metal and non-metal materials. It is a good electrical conductor as well as a thermal one. It is very difficult to burn it down since it is capable of sustaining its form in very very high temperatures and it is chemically dormant. Graphite adsorption rate of neutrons is very low so nuclear fission reactors are made with shields made out of Graphite.
Graphite is layer based, in a planar structure. Individual layers are what we call Graphene. Graphite crystal forms are two, the alpha (hexagonal) and the beta (rhombohedral).
Graphite is used mostly in the making of pencils, batteries (in the near future in my opinion the use of Graphene will take it's place), Steel making, color making, Brake linings and of course as we already mentioned in nuclear reactors.
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Graphene
The new era material. I am should begin by saying that there was the era of Copper and the era of Iron, in our day and age our era is going to be named the Graphene Era. This material is so promising. It is a super conductor or to say it right a zero-gap semiconductor (perfect for making electronics of the future). It is on layer of Graphite thick which makes it a 2D material. It was made for the first time in 2004 and in order to build it the two scientists used duck tape, yea duck tape, here is a video on how it was made. Graphene is the strongest material ever tested. Even with extreme deformation, excellent carrier mobility in monolayer Graphene can be preserved.
It is speculated that Graphene is going to be used in a huge variety of applications. Some of them are solar cells for energy production, smartphones that are going to be flexible, Graphene supercapacitors for energy storage alternative to electrolytic batteries ( there are many advantages like fast charging and longer life span), military armors and of course nuclear power plants.
The future looks great if you look the Graphene 's way.
(Image source: http://i.telegraph.co.uk)
(Image source: https://graphene-flagship.eu)
Source links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphite
https://www.britannica.com/science/graphite-carbon
https://www.graphenea.com/pages/graphene#.Wi_S9VWWaUk
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You can find more articles of mine here: @diasdr For all personal thinking content, i am sorry if you find it in any way offensive, i didn't mean to offend anyone just to discuss/express my opinion.