Graphene-polymer hybrid composites look to oust carbon nanotubes

We're pretty certain the world's big enough for the both of 'em, but a graphene-polymer hybrid developed by a brilliant team from Northwestern University could prove to be a suitable -- and much cheaper -- alternative to polymer-infused carbon nanotubes. Put simply, graphite can be purchased for dollars per pound, while single-walled nanotubes are hundreds of dollars per gram. A breakthrough has found that tough, lightweight materials can be created by "spreading a small amount of graphene, a single-layer flat sheet of carbon atoms, throughout polymers," and these composites could eventually be used to make lighter car and airplane parts (among other things). We won't kid you, there's a lot of technobabble in the read link below, but it's well worth the read if your inner nerd is up for it.

[Sachin @ May 28th 2008 10:08PM]

it's things like this that make me appreciate how fast the world is advancing. thanks, engadget.

[aarons12 @ May 28th 2008 10:11PM]

and they just found out that the nanotubes may possibly pose the same sort of lung cancer risk as asbestos did. which has nothing to do with chemical composition but rather is about tiny things that lodge in the lungs and irritate over years.

meaning that it may be reasonable to think that the graphene ones might have the same possible dangers, but now it may be hundreds of times cheaper to bring them to market, so they could be everywhere before anybody even gets a chance to check...

guess i'm getting cynical in my old age.

[Twitchy @ May 28th 2008 10:16PM]

"guess i'm getting cynical in my old age"

That's all right...here, have one of my dust masks.

[catfish @ May 28th 2008 11:27PM]

I'd be worried if sheets were shaped anything like tubes...

[N4N0T3CH @ May 28th 2008 10:26PM]

Represent Northwestern MatSci!

[John P. @ May 28th 2008 10:35PM]

I'm going to start saving for my 6lb Graphene racing bicycle now.

[Chris @ May 28th 2008 11:30PM]

is Graphene going to replace everything? first it's the alternative to carbon nanotubes for discount prices... and it's also going to replace silicon in CPU's.

Where was this magic substance 10 years ago so we could be using it already.

[jay.viz @ May 28th 2008 11:32PM]

Aren't both graphite and graphene allotropes of carbon? If so, then these are carbon nanosheets instead of carbon nanotubes? Since a sheet is easier to construct than a tube, wouldn't these have been looked at first? Also, if that's the case, then also what aarons12 said seems entirely valid as well.

[JP @ May 28th 2008 11:42PM]

Graphene has to be perfect -- only hexagonal components -- in order to be flat, which is difficult to pull off. Nanotubes were discovered incidentally as an offshoot of research into C60 'buckyballs' and are easier to come across accidentally.

[wrabbit @ May 29th 2008 10:14AM]

Actually, interestingly enough graphene, when created, is natural almost 100% perfect - very low chance for any defects in the structure - that's what makes it so great. The trouble with it, and the reason why carbon nano-tubes were "first to the scene" as it were, is that it's somewhat tricky to create - we're talking a 1-atom thick sheet of carbon. But now that scientist are finding ways to produce it easier and cheaper it makes sense that it would replace nano-tubes.

[JP @ May 28th 2008 11:37PM]

I think this post made a slight mistake in equating graphite and graphene. Graphite, graphene, nanotubes, and buckyballs are all similar in that they are made of carbon, but graphene is a sheet of carbon 1 atom thick and is much more expensive than what is generally called 'graphite' on the market today.

[Phil @ May 29th 2008 12:40AM]

True, graphene is flat sheets of carbon. Graphene has been known about for a while, but I believe the breakthrough here is infusing polymers with graphene. Graphene itself has potential electronics uses (this comes directly from Wikipedia): "electrical conductivity and high optical transparency make it a candidate for transparent conducting electrodes, required for such applications as touchscreens, liquid crystal displays, organic photovoltaic cells, and OLEDs." So infusing polymers with it apparently increases the mechanical properties, allowing it to be used for structural applications (ie automotive, aerospace industries). COOL. Proud to be a current engineer at NU!

[pianohombre @ May 29th 2008 1:08AM]

Found this on Wiki.

"Graphene is presently one of the most expensive materials on Earth, with a sample that can be placed at the cross section of a human hair costing more than $1,000 (as of April 2008)."

[Anamorphy @ May 29th 2008 9:22AM]

And as always, it won't be seen in real production in next 20 years.

[Iridium @ May 29th 2008 10:37AM]

This was in Popular Science a few months ago. If you write with a pencil you actually make small ammounts of Graphene.

You know when you rub a pencil really fast over and over on a sheet of paper and it all of a sudden can't write anymore and gets really hard. You've actually just coated the pencil with a sheet of Graphene.

Essentially they are just taking sheets of Graphite and splitting them over and over until they get a sheet 1 atom thick. So far about 30% of the sheet ends up being Graphene.

You can actually do it yourself if you have some Graphite and tape. Put the Graphite sheet in between two pieces of tape and pull it apart. Repeat a few thousand times. The Graphite will always split apart close to two equal sheets. Eventually you'll end up with a small ammount of Graphene.

[adwelsh @ May 29th 2008 12:09PM]

Materials scientists are GODS