Graphene: The Wonder Substance

http://richannel.org/graphene-the-wonder-substance

by ColinWright • 14 years ago

60 25 14 years ago

studio625• 14 years ago

C'mon space elevators!!!

soofy2• 14 years ago

That's BTW an old Russian idea. The key concept of the space elevator appeared in 1895 when Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris to consider a tower that reached all the way into space, built from the ground up to an altitude of 35,790 kilometers (22,238 mi) above sea level (geostationary orbit).[6] He noted that a "celestial castle" at the top of such a spindle-shaped cable would have the "castle" orbiting Earth in a geostationary orbit (i.e. the castle would remain over the same spot on Earth's surface). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator

rangibaby• 14 years ago

I learned something from this, but isn't it kind of like saying that cruise missiles are an old Indian idea? http://www.brahmand.com/general/missiles.php?satid=1

walru• 14 years ago

I'd be happy with a pair of heated long johns.

lifeisstillgood• 14 years ago

I can do naught but +1 such a statement :-)

stcredzero4• 14 years ago

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=heated+underwear

http://www.toast-clothes.com/

stcredzero4• 14 years ago

We already have materials strong enough to do this:

http://duckduckgo.com/?q=hastol+tether

So long as you don't require the tether to be stationary and to meet up with a stationary point on the ground, you can have a space elevator with materials we already have.

rorrr2• 14 years ago

That made no sense. How you can have a space elevator if it's not geo-stationary?

You didn't actually say what materials are strong enough for this (that we can actually produce without bankrupting whole countries).

soofy2• 14 years ago

Future Applications of Graphene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YbS-YyvCl4

elteto• 14 years ago

I am not very familiar with graphene but I would like to know how well it scales up from the molecular/nano scale to the macroscopic. I took a Material's Engineering class in college and I remember the professor saying that the "theoretical" strength of materials (in general) was supposed to be extremely high, orders of magnitude higher than what you find in real life. The disparity is a result of imperfections in the crystal lattices of the materials. You can probably build a graphene tube 50nm in length and find that at that scale it has all those superior properties, especially since at that size you are almost handling molecules individually and can arrange them correctly. But what happens when you go up in the scale? Will it retain all of those wonderful properties to the same extent?

adrusi• 14 years ago

a related video link points out that researchers have yet to find a single atom out of place in the lattice http://richannel.org/how-to-make-graphene

tcpekin• 14 years ago

Graphene is simply a single layer of carbon atoms. If you roll one up, voila, you have a carbon nanotube you've been hearing about for the past 10 years. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have similar properties as graphene (act as a metal or a semiconductor, are the "strongest materials known, etc.[1]).

From what I understand, it is very difficult to make large sections of pure graphene or long CNTs. As long as they're pure, they remain strong, and therein lies the difficulty of graphene and CNT production. Like you said, the impurities do weaken CNTs and graphene. The impurities can be contaminants which occupy a carbon location, or missing carbon atoms, forcing the lattice to reconstruct. According to [1], this can lower the tensile strength of a carbon nanotube by up to 85%. The problem with manufacturing long CNTs and large areas of graphene is that it is thermodynamically impossible to, on a large scale, have a perfect lattice. The imperfections will weaken the entire structure. So yes, as you go up in scale, the incredible/fantastic properties will just become impressive.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube

*I currently study materials science and can produce literature upon request. Also this is from the top of my head so it may contain some errors.

DanielBMarkham• 14 years ago

This post looks suspiciously light on content.

septerr3• 14 years ago

Off topic - But what does the Ri in these type of animations stand for?

septerr3• 14 years ago

Okay,it says here: http://richannel.org/about/what-is-the-ri that it stands for Royal Institution of Great Britain.

ColinWright• 14 years ago

The Royal Institution of Great Britain. I've spoken in the Faraday Lecture Theatre, and will be doing so again tomorrow, Saturday, and next Friday. It's a fabulous place with an amazing history and ongoing present.

septerr3• 14 years ago

Thanks!

hobbyist• 14 years ago

Can some one tell me which softwares are used to make such a presentation? It was quite a neat work :-)

superchink• 14 years ago

It was put together by these guys: http://simpleshow.com/

Graphene: The Wonder Substance

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