Graphene, The World's Thinnest Material



Graphene is a new material made of carbon sheets only one atom thick:

"It is the thinnest known material in the universe, and the strongest ever measured," Andre Geim , a physicist at the University of Manchester, England , wrote in the June 19 issue of the journal Science.

"A few grams could cover a football field," said Rod Ruoff , a graphene researcher at the University of Texas, Austin , in an e-mail. A gram is about 1/30th of an ounce.

Like diamond, graphene is pure carbon. It forms a six-sided mesh of atoms that, through an electron microscope, looks like a honeycomb or piece of chicken wire. Despite its strength, it's as flexible as plastic wrap and can be bent, folded or rolled up like a scroll.


It has applications including solar cells, computer chips, and whale tanks onboard stolen Klingon birds-of-prey.

Link via Geekologie

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Graphene is indeed a breakthrough in the field of Engineering materials. Because of the mecnaical properties and the ability to be utilized in the space application.My concern is the cost of the material and the ability of the material to withstand corrosive enviroment as well as the availability of the material.
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