In recent years, you may have heard of the graphene, a revolutionary new material with remarkable properties that is supposed to revolutionize our lives? What is it really? Will graphene really shake up the high-tech industry in the coming years?
Graphene is an unusual form of one of the most common elements on our planet, carbon, and was discovered and synthesized at the University of Manchester in 2004 by Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim. This earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010. It consists of several sheets of carbon atoms, each one atom thick, arranged in a hexagonal lattice. Yeah, I know, that doesn't get us very far.
So basically, graphene is to date the strongest and thinnest material in the world. But that's not all, since these qualities are very numerous, it is also the hardest material and yet it is malleable, the one that is the best conductor of heat and electricity... and finally, and this is the whole point of this material, it is very inexpensive (normal since it is a form of carbon)!
Given its impressive properties and low cost, you have understood that this material is full of qualities highly appreciated by industrialists and particularly in high-tech industries. There are an incredible number of outlets for graphene, but here are some places where we should see this material land in our daily lives very soon.
Computer chips
Until now, the development of computer chips has followed the famous Moore's law which stated that the number of transistors that could be fitted onto a microprocessor doubled every 2 years (every year in the first study carried out by Moore). But we are now approaching the limits of the miniaturization of silicon transistors, which should contradict this "law" in the years to come.
The potential for such chips is very significant and could have a real impact on computing and computer power.
The batteries
Our dependence on portable devices (smartphones, laptops or others) has never been greater. It is almost unhealthy, because we always need battery. Research to improve battery life is always a huge challenge and graphene shows real potential in this regard.
Samsung (despite its recent battery woes) has reported notable improvements in battery capacity by adding graphene to lithium-ion batteries. In a similar vein, Chinese company Dongxu unveiled a few months ago the " world's first graphene battery". This 4mAh battery can be recharged to 800% in just 100 minutes… unfortunately, this one is not yet commercially available.
Here again, if the success of research into graphene in batteries is confirmed, this material could lead to a real revolution in a field where our mobile devices are demanding ever more energy.
Printed electronics
Graphene is definitely very surprising. Indeed, this material can be printed on paper (or another surface). We can then imagine all the possible outlets and there are many of them: metro tickets, embedded RFID chips, electronic tattoos, flexible sensors and screens, connected clothing, etc.
Photographic sensors
Graphene is much more sensitive to light than the silicone currently used in digital camera sensors. This material could therefore improve the quality of photos, particularly in low light conditions. In fact, Nokia is already working on a smartphone equipped with a camera with a sensor made partly of graphene, which is less expensive and less energy-intensive.
The speakers
The speakers we use today work on the basis of mechanical parts that vibrate to produce sound. This means that it is necessary to have enough space for these parts to move. The consequence of this is that the miniaturization of the speakers is limited and their positioning is important.
A team of researchers in Korea used the principles of thermoacoustics (the generation of sound by rapidly heating and cooling a material) to make a very thin, vibration-free speaker using graphene aerogel. Such a speaker would be ideal for mobile devices and would be a good fit for ultra-thin TVs.
The screens
And it's not over !
Since graphene is almost transparent and above all very strong, it can be used on glass to strengthen it. This use is obviously perfect for making screens even stronger, especially the touch screens of our smartphones, which are often a weak link.
Graphene is stronger than diamond and a screen covered in it would be nearly unbreakable or at least wouldn't shatter when you dropped your device. Reinforced glass would of course have many other uses, including in transportation and other applications.
Sports equipment
Graphene being very light and very strong, we can easily imagine this material finding its place in many sports disciplines where any weight gain has an immediate impact on performance: cycling, motor sports, skiing, etc.
Combined with carbon fiber, graphene can further reduce the weight of a device while maintaining its strength. Dassi was able to produce a bicycle frame that weighs only 750 grams and hopes to get down to just 350 grams in the near future. 350 grams for a bicycle frame, can you imagine?
Graphene in our future?
The above uses are just a few concrete examples of the possibilities graphene represents for our future. But there is of course a wide range of possible uses in the industrial and medical fields that could be just as revolutionary.
It remains to be seen whether graphene will live up to its promises! We are not immune to encountering insurmountable production problems or a higher cost of use than anticipated... but if only a portion of the anticipated uses were to materialize, this would still bring real improvements to the entire high-tech industry.
What do you think about graphene? What uses do you think are the most promising? Let us know in the comments!
