A little history
receive the generic name of nano-sized particles less than or equal to one millionth of a millimeter. Although they can be obtained from different chemical elements or compounds, three of them are those who are starting a new revolution, nanotechnology, applicable to all sorts of computer products, electronics, industrial. They correspond to three key discoveries of the last 25 years. Began in 1985 with the C60 structure, origin of fullerenes, in 1994 predicted the possibility of boron nitride nanotubes, isolated in 2005. And in 2004 isolated the first leaves of graphene. Discuss this latest achievement. Graphene is simply a two-dimensional sheet formed by a single layer of carbon atoms attached to each other, so similar to a hollow metal hexagonal lattice.
In 2004, the Russian-born physicist, Dutch citizen, Andre Geim of Manchester University, led a research on the graphite and joined to it a new Russian doctoral student, Konstantin Kostya Novoselov. In the laboratory, to remove graphite samples investigated were damaged the outside came the ingenious and cheap system of beating a piece of transparent adhesive tape and pull the tape so that a Foreign those allegedly damaged areas, after which the adhesive strips to throw away. But the brilliant idea of \u200b\u200bGeim was to instruct Novoselov to study the material stuck to the tape. And ... you hit the big bingo! .
Indeed, among the hundreds of slides attached to the tape, a few were monolayers of graphite crystal, ie, graphene, with new and strange properties because their electrons do not behave "classically" but a very special way. The results were immediately filed in the U.S. in the most important annual meeting of physicists in condensed matter, the March Meeting of the American Physics Society. Since that year, in successive graphene Meeting March has always been a prominent character and scientific interest was evidenced by the fact that last year 2010 have been published over 10,000 articles related to graphene in international scientific journals.
Properties
graphene films only one atom thick, have a strength, flexibility, transparency and electrical conductivity spectacular. In the carbon flat configuration has extraordinary properties, characteristics of the world of quantum physics. The new material, extremely thin and strong as a conductor of electricity behaves like copper, being about 100 times faster than silicon. And as conductor of heat than any other known material. It is almost completely transparent, but so dense that not even the helium gas, the gas atom existing smaller, can pass through it.
Applications
This dream has an infinite number of possible applications. Apart from the microelectronics and displays, other proposals include solar panels or supercapacitors (batteries recharged instantly). Even some biotechnologists have thought to use it to encapsulate virus. Are just some examples, although some applications may not be very dream feasible. For example, some experts believe that graphene can hardly withstand currents as high as those that would be needed for some their imaginary electronic applications. In any case, the Nobel Committee at the proposal to award the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010 to Geim and Novoselov has highlighted the enormous potential of open applications with their results.
As early as 2008, researchers at Cornell University have created a membrane graphene balloon that was strong enough to contain gases with several atmospheres of pressure without popping. And last year, the Manchester group of prof. Novoselov, had been able to develop the world's thinnest material, the fluorografeno, with the thickness of a molecule simultaneous combined the advantages of graphene Teflon, is as strong as this, so that could be used as an alternative "thin" the Teflon LEDs and other electronic applications (ultrafast transistors, sensors, etc.)
And now, today announced that South Korean scientists Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul have built the first 30-inch touch screen based on graphene, which can be folded and rolled to occupy minimal space. And IBM, the big computer giant, has also filed its first graphene chips 10 times faster than the silicon. Manufacturers of batteries for mobile products will also improve thanks to graphene, with which also has built the world's smallest radio. Moreover, it has served as a spur to the improvement of other forms, not just those related to the graphene: OLED technology, based on light emitting layer formed by organic compounds (polymers), electronic paper with metal oxides or variants classical silicon as crystalline silicon, etc..
graphene may even take time to replace, if it succeeds, the silicon, but their mere existence opens a new world of hope in electronics.
Published in La Verdad de Murcia, on January 8, 2011
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