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In an effort to develop superstrong lightweight materials, others have used carbon nanotubes. And the new graphene-oxide paper is not as strong as carbon-nanotube films, Geim says. "The advantage of materials made from carbon nanotubes is they're much tougher, because they entangle like spaghetti," he says. "When you're dealing with flat sheets, they entangle very little and are breakable."
But the graphene-oxide paper has other key advantages. Graphite is a cheap raw material, and the filtration method is simple and leads to lots of graphene. Most important, the Northwestern researchers' work opens up a way to manipulate graphene sheets and make paperlike materials with different properties.
When Ruoff and his colleagues oxidize graphene into graphene oxide, for instance, the carbon-based material goes from being an electrical conductor to being an insulator. Ruoff says that he can alter graphene's chemistry in other ways to change its electrical properties and make it an insulator, a conductor, or even a semiconductor.
That electrical versatility combines with an ultrastrong material has some observers excited. "They haven't used any tough glue between the [graphene platelets]," Geim says. "I expect very, very tough materials if a proper glue between graphene is used."
A novel process yields big pieces of single-ply graphene for smaller, faster electronics.
A nanocomposite of aluminum oxide and a polymer is as tough as metals but lighter.
What about nano-laminate sandwich composites? If you alternated the graphene sheets with glue layers or something else that's tougher, then perhaps you could build a very high-strength composite material.
Sounds great, but can they mass produce it?
Since sliced bread...eh?
One of the big beefs I see with this and other articles like it on the 'net is that they all "promise" great things. It is one thing to do it in a lab, another to crank out this stuff by the pound or ton.
IF we could do that, we could sandwich this stuff together with other materials. IF they could do that we could have cheap, durable airplane and car bodies. IF we could do that we could have body and vehicle armor that would be simply incredible. If. If. If.
Sorry to sound jaded, but so often...it seems...none of this ever pans out.
Re: Sounds great, but can they mass produce it?
Yes this can be mass produced. It requires graphite powder, which is already produced industrially; basic laboratoy acids, Sulfuric Acid or Nitric Acid; and and oxidizing salt such as Potassum Permangenate or Sodium Chlorate. Producing something on a commercial scale also has much to do with development. Im sure that high grade silicon and carbon fiber were not supplied on a large scale when the microelectronics or composites inductries first started. Over the years, fabrication facilities have increased in size and cost has been reduced allowing carbon fiber to be used for commercial applications, same for silicon.
A new discovery! One more piece to the puzzle. I am thinking of a perfectly shaped sail for sailboats with little stretch.
Isn't this carbon we are talking about? Monoxide or dioxide? Obviously some other ratio, using oxygen to and carbon to make a 2 dimentional polymer. Graphene to make the flat sheet, Oxygen or Oxidizing agent to seal the edges?
graphene oxide may be thought a new type of polymer of carbon and oxigen
What are the X-Y dimensions of graphene
Okay, I get this much: About one atom thick in the "Z" dimension (monoatomic layer). How about in the X-Y plane? How wide are these sheets at the current stage? So far we have been talking micron dimensions. Any likelihood of growing (or stiching together) graphene sheets to millimeter or centimeter sizes in the Y-Z plane?
will this material be able to withstand continous temperatures in the range of 110 to 130 deg C, along with pressure pulsation
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
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Electronic circuits and circuit boards made of Graphene sheets?
Is it possible to make electronic circuits and circuit boards (interconnection board) using these graphene sheets? Maybe using something like the etching process using photo masks? Since the electronic properties can be manipulated, can you manipulate them actively (using electrical signals and contacts made of other materials) to build active switches? Some wild possibilities exploration...
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