What is Graphene and why it is becoming popular?

Graphene | Graphene the thinnest imaginable material, harder than a diamond and has various use in upcoming technologies.

Graphene is the thinnest imaginable material. It is a allotrope of carbon but just one atomic layer of carbon atoms. Rolling a graphene sheet into a cylinder makes a carbon nanotube, which is better suited to carry electricity in advanced applications. Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov received Noble prize for the research on this wonder material in 2010. It is called a wonder material as it has a strength 100 times more than strongest steel and density of 0.763 mg per square meter. Not only this it also has ability to conduct electricity very efficiently. Now let us see some of its uses.

Use of Graphene in Transportation:-

In a new study, researchers have propelled water nanodroplets across a graphene surface at speeds of up to 250 km (155 miles) per hour i.e., about twice the speed of a sprinting cheetah. The water droplets' ultrafast velocities won't require any pump, but instead occur simply due to the geometric patterns on the graphene surface, which create different contact angles at the front and back of the moving droplets to propel them forward.

This microscale mode of transport is very different than anything observed on the macroscale. The different surface patterns created large contact angles on the hydrophobic domains and smaller contact angles on the hydrophilic domains. The differences in the contact angles at the advancing and receding ends of the water droplets set the droplets in motion and accelerated them forward. Similar mechanisms are found in nature, such as on the surface of the Namib desert beetle and the veins network of banana leaves. These surfaces have patterns that result in the improved collection and transport of water.

Purification of Air and Water using Graphene :-

Air can be purified easily with graphene and TiO2. Special type of TiO2 gets activated in the presence of light. This emitts oxidants which kills bacteria and graphene filters out the toxic materials from the gases. These toxic materials can be detoxicated after this by other known methos.Hydrogels can be made using nanotechnology with titanium dioxide and graphene. In this gel TiO2 is placed inside the carbon nanotubes and polluted air is then allowed to pass through it.

In a very similar way, water can also be purified by using graphene sheets. The graphene sheets will not allow bigger molecules or dissolved ions in water to passed through it but allow smaller H2O to do so. At the end we get pure water.

Graphene Battery

Graphene battery technology has a similar structure to traditional batteries in that they have two electrodes and an electrolyte solution to facilitate ion transfer. The main difference between solid-state batteries and graphene-based batteries is in the composition of one or both electrodes. The change primarily lies in the cathode, but carbon allotropes can be utilized in the anode as well. The cathode in a traditional battery is purely composed of solid-state materials, where as in a graphene battery the cathode is a composite-a hybrid material consisting of a solid-state metallic material and graphene. The amount of graphene in the composite can vary, depending upon the intended application. The amount of graphene incorporated into the electrode generally depends upon the performance requirements and is based upon the existing efficiencies and/or weaknesses of the solid-state precursor material.

Bulletproof vest

Graphene is so hard that it can be used in the manufacturing of Bulletproof vests. Not only vest but the parts of automobiles can also be converted into the Bulletproof ones. Specially designed graphene sheets have a tendency to become harder on sudden force in a very short interval of time (impulse). It becomes harder than diamond!

Keywords :
Graphene | Uses of graphene | creating a graphene sheet | Water purification trough graphene sheets | air purifier made using graphene | graphene based battery