We are standing around the kitchen table looking at an old paper map when my 5-year-old niece comes up to “help”. When she sees the print on the page is too small she leans in and unpinches the area with her fingertips to make it bigger the same way she does when using her tablet. Growing up in an electronic world, this is the most intuitive thing for her to do when she sees an image too small.
As abstract as it may sound, applying a screen based gesture to paper such as unpinching, is technology that is already in development. The material is not paper but it is thinner, more flexible, more durable and it can be folded up and carried in your pocket.
First, there was the Stone Age, then the Bronze Age, and following that the Iron Age. Each "Age" advancing civilisation by leaps and bounds. So what comes next. What material will bring us into the Space Age?
Graphene is outperforming every structural material in existence by leaps and bounds. Derived from one of the four atomic elements, carbon, it is proving to be the most dynamic and most versatile material ever to have been discovered. Graphene is a thin layer of graphite only one atom thick. Unlike graphite which is quite brittle this 2D crystalline material is robust, flexible, conductive, and lightweight.
Graphite is essentially hundreds of thousands of layers of graphene stacked together. Advanced technology is required to separate layers of graphene from graphite. Although scientists have been developing the technology to accomplish this for over a decade, they are just now on the verge of achieving this on a scalable level for use in mass manufacturing.
The applications for graphene are diverse. It can be used to coat existing surfaces enhancing durability. It can be used to filter and desalinize water. Efficient graphene-enhanced batteries have been patented by Samsung. The new batteries soon to be on the market in mobile devices only take minutes to charge and last 10x longer.
Graphene can be used to construct electronic devices that are flexible and foldable. Imagine a map of the future that lays out like a map from the past but offers all the advanced technology of smart devices. Super light and resilient computers will fold up small enough to carry around in our pockets, conforming to any shape.
Graphene carries photons and electrons. It is transparent, so a perfect material for windows that can be see-through by day and illuminated by night. Or perhaps built-in sensors could detect darkness and automatically draw the curtains or close the blinds. Graphite infused paint could light up an entire wall with the ability to change colours or patterns. It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie but scientists predict this technology will be part of our everyday lives by the year 2030.
The benefits of graphene batteries in electric cars will take the transportation industry to a whole new level. Additional enhancements to automobiles could be graphene-based paint for added durability. Graphene’s lightweight and durability could also revolutionize performance in the aerospace industry. Not out of reach is the concept of an electric airplane. The sky is the limit for this versatile material.
Graphene extraction was first achieved by two researchers, Prof Andre Geim and Prof Kostya Novoselov, from the University of Manchester in the UK. Scientists had already known the two-dimensional crystal graphene existed, but nobody had figured out how to process it. These two scientists removed some flakes from a lump of graphite with tape and noticed that they had different consistencies. Some were thinner than others. They repeatedly separated fragments from each other with sticky tape until they were reduced to a two-dimensional layer just one atom thick. This discovery won them the Nobel Prize for physics in 2010. Before this, many believed that crystalline materials this thin could not possibly be stable. They have now been proven wrong.
Light, thin, strong and dynamic, graphene has limitless potential. It is a sheet of carbon that is a mere one atom in thickness but hundreds of times more durable than steel. It is the lightest most conductive human-made material on earth. It can be used for DNA sequencing at a nanoscopic level. This substance can be programmed to adhere to specific cells in the body, such as Cancer cells which will be revolutionary in the medical technology. It folds, it bends, it stretches, it twists, it rolls and can create bendable, flexible transparent user interfaces for electronics.
A Swiss company is redefining the standards for wheelchairs using graphene to design a prototype wheelchair named the Superstar that weighs only 1.5 kgs. It is lighter and stronger than any wheelchair ever made. Many people who use wheelchairs experience extreme arm fatigue. This lightweight wheelchair will be more comfortable and manageable causing less strain to the upper body and fewer injuries.
The possibilities for graphene are as vast as our imaginations. When cave dwellers first discovered bronze, they may not have fully grasped what was in store for the future of humankind. Is it possible that we today as a society are upon the next phase of existence?
References:
Will Nicol: A material supreme: How graphene will shape the world of tomorrow
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/what-is-graphene-and-how-will-it-shape-the-future-of-tech/
Article Graphenea
https://www.graphenea.com/pages/article-graphenea
Cambridge Interview - The Future of Graphene
https://thegraphenecouncil.site-ym.com/page/GrapheneVideos
Graphene – the perfect atomic lattice
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2010/press-release/
Impressions from the 2018 Graphene Week in San Sebastian
https://www.graphene-info.com/impressions-2018-graphene-week-san-sebastian
Discovery of graphene
https://www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk/learn/discovery-of-graphene/