Graphene:Technology that can reshape the future

What is Graphene actually?

Structure of Graphene

In simplest words, the answer to this question would be "The single thinnest layer of graphite", graphite the flaky and soft material used in pencil leads. Graphite is an allotrope of carbon has its atoms arranged in a very different manner; thereby gaining its different properties. The other form of carbon is diamond which is very rigid quite contrasting to graphite which is a soft material.

Graphene has its atoms arranged in a hexagonal arrangement and when isolated from graphite showcases some miraculous properties. It has been found to be just being equivalent to one atom in thickness and therefore it is so thin that it is being called the first "2-D" or "two -dimensional" ever found.

It may look very weak due to its almost negligible thickness, but in reality, this is not the case, the researchers have discovered that it has a tensile strength of almost 130.5 Gpa, which means that it is a lot more stronger than steel.

The history of Graphene

The earliest attempt to study graphene could be traced back to 1859 when Benjamin Collins Brodie

came to discover about the highly lamellar structure of thermally reduced graphite oxide, however, there was no graphite in that era and it was discovered around 1916.

The theory of single layer graphite was proposed by P. R.Wallace in 1947 and the graphene, of which we are talking about, was first unambiguously produced and identified in 2004 by the physicists Andre Giem and Konstantin Sergeevich Novoselov, but they credited Hans-Peter Boehm and his group for the experimental discovery of graphene in 1962. The term "graphene" was also coined by Boehm.

The researchers used a tape to polish graphite and while doing so they saw exceptionally thin flakes on the tape. They continued to peel more and more flakes and eventually produced a sample that was extremely thin and thus they found Graphene!!!

Applications and uses of Graphene

In Electronics

Graphene being a semi-metal has shown tremendous electrical potential and it is also highly flexible and transparent. This flexibility equips it with the ability to be used in portable and flexible electronics.

graphene-ball

Recent advancements in technology have facilitated the use of graphene in smartphones. Xiaomi had launched its redmi note 5 pro in Q1 2018 and in this smartphone, they added a dual graphene sheet that claims to prevent the phone from overheating.

Graphene may also be seen soon being used in batteries as researches claim to have increased high capacity energy storage and less charging time plus the battery itself will remain light and more durable.

Samsung in an event last year, in the month of November, announced that they will be developing a battery made of graphene that will charge 5 times faster than standard lithium-ion batteries. 

In Solar Cells/Solar Panels/Photovoltaics

There has been a lot of research going on to increase the efficiency of graphene cells such that they could be at par with silicon cells.

Theoretically, graphene being highly conductive and transparent has a great potential as a material in solar cells. Solar cells use silicon that produces a charge whenever a photon hits the material, it frees up an electron to roam around unhindered. However, Silicon only releases one electron per photon that hits it. Research has hinted that graphene can release multiple electrons and therefore it could be far better at converting solar energy into electrical energy. But with all of this being in theory only, graphene still has miles to go before it could be finally used in a Solar Cell.

In Semiconductors

Being highly conductive, graphene could be used in semiconductors significantly increasing the rate of data transfer. Conducted researches show that semiconductive polymers conduct electricity much quickly when placed on top of a layer of graphene than silicon.

However, there are still certain caveats with graphene because of its band gap as the gap between the conduction and valence bands allows for a flow of current. This gap allows semiconductors such as silicon to function as transistor such that it can switch between conducting and insulating the electric current and as there is no band gap in the case of graphene than electrical charges would continue to flow as in any metal.

However, the most recent researches claimed to have developed graphene with a band gap of almost 0.5 eV which should be enough for it to function as a semiconductor.

In Medicine

Researches have shown that graphene has tremendous antimicrobial properties, so it is believed that

graphene can decelerate the spread of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

The other areas where graphene is being used for research are:-

• Cancer Treatments
• Birth Control
• Neurological Disorders
• Genetic Diseases, etc.

Our future with Graphene

It's been almost 15 years since we are hearing that graphene is the next big thing, however, 15 years is quite a long time to say that any significant advancement in this field of technology has been made. This is due to shortcomings in the properties of graphene in various aspects.

But in the past couple of years, we have started seeing some sort of practical usage of graphene with major players like Xiaomi and Samsung stepping into the market to implement graphene-based heat dissipators and batteries respectively. 

There was a lot of hype created when the material was discovered in 2004, but the reality is always more complex than what we think or imagine about, any new technology would obviously take time and extensive research before it could finally be implemented.

Plastics were discovered in the early 1920s but were made commercially available by the late 60s or 70s, so is the case with graphene as the material is still pretty new and it would take almost 10 or more years from now to see graphene hovering around in the market.

With all of this, graphene has a lot to contribute to our future and can remould the way we use technology today.