DailyDirt: The Promises Of Graphene
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Materials made of carbon are amazingly useful. We've pointed out various cool things that graphene can do before, but the list really seems to go on and on (even though there are less than a handful of products on the market that actually incorporate graphene). Still, graphene could improve a lot of things, and material science often takes decades to really establish a market for a specific material. Check out these links... and maybe in 30 years or so, we'll finally get to see some of these things.- Graphene, like many other "miracle materials" before it, was predicted to create amazing advances in a wide range of products due to its unique chemical and physical properties. The material was discovered in 2004 from super thin layers of graphite, and now there are thousands of graphene-related patents. However, it may still be a while before widespread commercial applications are a reality. stuck to adhesive tape. [url]
- If only graphene could be produced in large-scale amounts, we'd have all kinds of crazy strong stuff -- like really lightweight bulletproof vests. Lab experiments show that graphene is better than Kevlar, but the catch is that no one has been able to make cheap graphene in large quantities. /sad trombone [url]
- Carbon nanotubes have exhibited an interesting ability to generate electricity via a thermopower wave phenonmenon. Igniting a combustible substance at one end of a carbon nanotube thread with a laser can push electrons around, and graphene could be another material that this phenomenon works with that's even more efficient. [url]
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Filed Under: carbon nanotubes, graphene, kevlar, materials, nanotechnology, science, stronger than steel, thermopower wave
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Carbon Everywhere
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Two sentences that sum up what's wrong with patents.
It looks like, either they are holding progress back, or at best will have expired long before there are any applications and therefore can't realistically serve as an incentive to anyone (excepting of course the lawyers).
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Re:
There are also graphene-based tennis rackets, skis, bicycle wheels, helmets, and other sporting equipment. It's also being used in electronic thermal paste.
There's more, but you get the idea.
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