What’s so special about it? So what makes graphene so unique? Different commercial application of graphene?? Future of Graphene??
Dear Sadanand Pandey
Graphene is the first truely 2D material. It is one atomic layer of sp2 hybridized carbon atoms forming a honeycomb lattice. Graphene is a zero band gap semi-metal having strong electrical, optical and mechanical strength. It is highly conducting (due to massless dirac fermions), highly transparent (97.7%) and approx. 200 times stronger than the same thickness of steel. The conceived fields for Graphene are micro-electronics, opto-electronics, filteration etc.
Graphene is a thin, two-dimensional layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. Graphene is a special material, because:
- Graphene is one of the world’s thinnest material—it is only one carbon atom thick (around 0.34 nm). It is also recognized as the toughest 2D material—much harder than either steel or diamond of the same dimensions.
- Graphene has a tensile strength (the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before failing or breaking) of over 1 Tpa. There is only one material that may be stronger than graphene—carbyne, which is a string of carbon atoms, basically a one-atom wide graphene ribbon. Carbyne is very difficult to synthesize, though.
- Graphene has a highest surface-area to volume ratio. This makes graphene a very promising material to be used in batteries and supercapacitors. Graphene may enable devices that can store more energy - and charge faster, too. Graphene can also be used to enhance fuel-cells.
- Graphene is the perfect thermal conductor - it features record thermal conductivity— higher than that of carbon nanotubes, graphite and diamond (over 5,000 W/m/K). Graphene conducts heat in all directions - it is an isotropic conductor.
- Graphene has extremely high electrical current density (a million times that of copper) and intrinsic mobility (100 times that of silicon).
- Graphene has a lower resistivity than any other known material at room temperature, including silver. There are also some methods to turn it into a superconductor (it can carry electricity with 100% efficiency).
The graphene chemistry, which is consistent with physical expectations, covers the following issues.
1. A small mass of carbon atoms that provides the lightest material under ambient conditions;
2. sp2 Configuration of the atom valence electrons that ensures a perfect flat 2D
structure of condensed benzenoid units;
3. The high strength of C-C valence bonds that is responsible for the exclusive mechanical strength.
On other hands, The graphene chemistry, which is inconsistent with physics expectations, constitutes a longer list that includes but a few the most important issues, such as:
1. The radical character of the graphene substance;
2. The collective behavior of the graphene odd electrons;
3. The molecular nature and topochemical character of graphene mechanics;
4. The molecular nature of graphene magnetism.
Each of the properties is a direct consequence of the odd electron correlation.
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