Graphene is the hottest material in technological research. Today we will review some of its most amazing applications, ranging from medicine to electronics.
For months now, the two most recurrent Think Big themes in terms of technological innovation have been: 3D printing advances and news about the uses of graphene, the material expected to lead this century’s revolution. Graphene is merely an allotrope of carbon, that is, a substance formed by pure carbon, hexagonal in structure, very similar to the honeycombs that bees make.
Although the first chemical descriptions in terms of structure were made in the thirties, the fact is that Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov only succeeded in isolating graphene at room temperature relatively recently, which explains why it is a material «come into its own». That discovery was so important that the two researchers received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010.
But what makes graphene so important? Is it the chemical structure that gives rise to graphene’s extraordinary properties? How is it designed for application in technological innovations? Today we will present some of graphene’s most astonishing uses in fields as diverse and varied as medicine, photography and electronics.
High quality headphones
While, at first glance, it might seem that the uses of graphene would not have much to do with the music industry, drawing this conclusion would be a tremendous mistake. It has a lot to do with it. That’s true, at least, since researchers at the University of Berkeley in California created the first graphene-based headphones some time ago. The improvement in terms of sound quality was more than obvious.
A membrane made of graphene improves the user’s perception and experience. A clear sign that graphene can be used in many different sectors.
Graphene-based human tissues
Another advance in which graphene could be used is in the development of artificial implants. In particular, the adaptability of this material, coupled with its strength and stability, allows it to be used in the creation of neural tissue implants.
Positive results from this line of investigation (specifically, a team from the Technical University of Munich did tests on retinal ganglion cells) would be a clear indication that graphene can also be used in medicine with a high likelihood of success.
High speed graphene processors
If medicine and music would greatly benefit from the technological advances of graphene development, wouldn’t this also be true for electronics? The construction of an integrated circuit operating at 1.28 GHz by scientists at the Politecnico di Milano and the University of Illinois seems to confirm that we are moving in that direction.
Integrated circuits, which are part of any electronic device, could be improved by using graphene, since, in the coming years, we would have faster, more flexible and even smaller microprocessors.
Flexible devices thanks to improved handling of graphenen
Although the emergence of flexible devices in last year’s CES was a true revolution, the truth is that technology has to keep feeding back on itself with new advances and developments to improve its impact. One of these advances not only involves the use of this so-called material of the future, but also the application a variety of innovative techniques to treat and process it.
With that goal in mind, scientists at Northwestern University have explored this possibility to create graphene-based structures that might allow the design and 3D printing of flexible structures.
Better photographs, thanks to graphenen
While engaged in this overview of the wondrous applications and uses of this material, we also found new breakthroughs that can enhance our experience as photographers. Can you imagine a photo sensor a thousand times more sensitive than traditional CCD and CMOS sensors? With graphene, this would already be possible.
Due to its high electrical conductivity, a graphene sensor could capture more electrical signals for a longer period of time. This would improve the definition of the images photographed and lower the cost in comparison with conventional sensors. Could graphene be used, for example, in the new smartphone cameras to allow them to take much sharper pictures at night? In the next few years we will solve this issue.
Graphene will make longer battery life possible
The dream of any electronics manufacturer is to have longer lasting batteries. Instead of conventional lithium batteries, scientists at Northwestern University in the U.S. have used graphene to create these batteries that last a week and fully charge in just 15 minutes.
A new project, in addition to those mentioned above, that shows how much this material can contribute to research and technological developments in many different and almost diametrically opposed fields.
Desalination: filtering seawater using nanoporous graphenen
Given the problems associated with climate change and drought, which are that is progressing ever faster, mean we need more sources of water that could be made potable. One of the initiatives under consideration for years is the possibility of desalinating sea water, with the drawback that such projects are highly expensive and complex.
A contribution from MIT scientists, however, has created desalination filters using mono-porous graphene, a material that requires less pressure, leading to the corresponding increase in the speed of desalination processes.
Although, for now, the only successful results have been verified by computer simulation and field testing has yet to be conducted, the fact is that graphene has a long list of amazing applications, which we will no doubt benefit from in the future.
Images | Wikipedia, Flickr
