The wonder material

Curiosity driven research-that’s what led to the inception of the wonder material on a serendipitous evening in 2002, when Dr. Andre Geim was pondering about Carbon. He contemplated about how ultra thin layers of Carbon might behave under experimental conditions. Unequivocally, Graphite was the most favorable material to work with, but the general fashion to isolate extremely thin layers would overheat the material, ultimately destroying it. Geim’s “scotch-tape” technique would go on to become renowned for isolating the world’s two dimensional material: a layer of carbon only an atom thick which under an atomic microscope, resembled a flat lattice of hexagons linked in a honeycomb pattern. This was the birth of Graphene.

Soon after, Dr. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov started tinkering with Graphene. Over the next couple of years, a series of experiments revealed some stupefying properties of the material. Its unique structure lets electrons flow unfettered through the lattice at phenomenal speeds. They found out that Graphene would be able to conduct 1000 times more electricity that Copper.  The elfin material also exhibited field effect (the response that some materials show when placed near an electric field, which allows scientists to control the conductivity. Field effect-one of the defining characteristics of silicon, used in computer chips). This hinted that Graphene could substitute Silicon in the future.

In October, 2004, their paper, “Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films,” was published in Science, and it astonished scientists. Youngjoon Gil, the executive vice-president of the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology stated: “It was as if science fiction had become reality.” Six years later in 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

 James Tour, a research worker at Rice University stated that “mobility” with which electronic information can flow across graphene’s surface is the most tantalizing of Graphene’s properties described in Geim and Novoselov’s paper. “The slow step in our computers is moving information from point A to point B,” Tour said. “Now you’ve taken the slow step, the biggest hurdle in silicon electronics, and you’ve introduced a new material and—boom! All of a sudden, you’re increasing speed not by a factor of ten but by a factor of a hundred, possibly even more.” This has given the much needed boost to the semiconductor industry which has been slogging to keep up with Moore’s law devised by Gordon Moore (Co-founder of Intel). He predicted that every two years the density and effectiveness of computer chips would double. Engineers have been able to keep up with Moore’s law for five decades. But there’s a limit. Shrinking the chip too much, would move its transistors too close together, and silicon stops working. Soon, silicon chips may no longer be able to keep pace with Moore’s Law. Graphene, could offer a solution.

But it’s not just the computer and electronics industry that will be beneficiaries of a possible Graphene revolution.

Tour has sold patents for a graphene-infused paint whose conductivity may abet in removing ice from helicopter blades, fluids to improve efficiency of oil drills, and graphene-based materials to make the inflatable slides and life rafts used in airplanes. He pointed out that it is the only substance on the earth which is entirely impermeable to gas and it barely weighs anything. Lighter rafts and slides would help airline companies save millions of dollars a year on fuel.

A certain Graphene-based gel is being experimented with as a scaffold for spinal-cord injuries. Instead of just having a nonfunctional scaffold material, having something that’s electrically conductive helps the nerve cells to communicate electrically and connect with each other. This has been successfully tested on lab rats whose hind legs had been paralyzed. Bionic devices that allow paraplegics to reuse their limbs may not be science fiction for too long.

When oxygen and hydrogen molecules were bonded to Graphene, Graphene oxide came into existence-something which may solve our problems of radioactive waste disposal, as Graphene Oxide binds with the radioactive materials, forming a sludge that can be scooped away without much ado.

Scientists at MIT are developing a graphene filter covered with holes so tiny that they will only allow water to pass and will keep the salt out. Desalinization of salt water may have never been so simple had it not been for Graphene.

In Marvel Comics' Superior Ironman #2, the armored avenger-Tony Stark adorned an all-white armour instead of the familiar red and gold. Significantly, this new Ironman suit has no faceplate. 

Well, not exactly. As it is only one atom thick, graphene passes 97% of visible light, making it more transparent than most glasses, so we can indeed see his face through this thin, carbon "faceplate."

And maybe, just maybe, we may see our armies wearing these rather attractive suits made of Graphene. But could it be effective in protecting our soldiers? Experiments have proved that thin multi-layers of graphene, no more than a hundred atoms thick, are indeed ten times more "bullet-proof" than steel.

Wow. One material with myriad applications and I have barely been able to write about anything.

Adjectives that can be used for Graphene: elfin, wondrous, sublime, stupendous.... I could probably go on forever.

Graphene may soon spell the beginning of another technological and industrial revolution. Well, the future looks bright for all of us and especially for those who slavishly devote themselves to technology.

So, let us all bask in the glory of “THE WONDER MATERIAL”.