In 2004, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, two physicists at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, announced that they had developed a technique to isolate graphene from graphite , the same compound with which pencil leads are made. It is a two-dimensional material – it is the thickness of a carbon atom – that had already been theoretically described in the 1930s.
Geim and Novoselov’s research revealed that graphene exhibits some very interesting properties: it is transparent, very strong, extremely elastic, and at the same time conducts electricity very well . Thus, a team of researchers from the University of Technology of Sydney, in Australia, has manipulated the structure of graphite to obtain extremely flexible sheets of graphene and as thin as paper, but stronger than steel. In fact, despite their apparent ductility since they are six times lighter than this, they turn out to be twice as hard and ten times more resistant to traction .
Some experts point out that this will be the fundamental component of future chips and touch screens . But graphene is just one of the forms that carbon can take called to revolutionize nanotechnology. Using this same element, scientists at the University of Michigan, in the US, have grown millions of carbon nanotubes on a silicon wafer . In this way, they have composed unique nanometric sculptures. A similar technique could be used to design new sensors and data storage and chip cooling systems that are more efficient than current ones.
Also, experts from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center have created a new material that absorbs 99.5% of the light it receives . To do this, they arranged on a substrate a forest of carbon nanotubes placed in a vertical position. Light, be it ultraviolet, visible, infrared or far infrared, is trapped between the spaces left by these structures. The advance is especially useful for the construction of telescopes and space observation systems .
Finally, graphene bubbles of between 3 and 4 microns in diameter designed by a team of nanotechnologists from Princeton University and the National Laboratory of the Pacific Northwest, in the USA, allow the storage of 15,000 milliamp hours per gram , which that supposes a great store of energy. The advance seems especially suitable for the development of more efficient batteries.
