Graphene is a recently isolated allotrope of carbon, consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged into an inter-connected benzene-ring structure (Figure 1).1 Resembling a hexagonal honeycomb lattice or a chain-link fence in structure, graphene is only one atom thick and is thus considered a two-dimensional material.1 It is currently touted as the thinnest, strongest, lightest, most flexible and best conducting material known to science.2 Although some of this is based on theoretical data (extrapolated from real samples with inevitable intrinsic defects compared to a perfect sample), these notable qualities drive graphene research at a relentless pace and imply applications that could revolutionize computer electronics and future …show more content…
True 2D graphene must be “sufficiently isolated from its environment to be considered free-standing”, which was considered to be thermodynamically impossible.3 It was successfully isolated by Geim and Novoselov in 2004 using the “Scotch-tape method”, a technique involving mechanical exfoliation (repeated peeling) of a graphite sample until a single-layer film was produced.2 This 2D film features a hexagonal, honey-comb lattice of covalently bonded carbon atoms (Figure 2) exhibiting nanometer-scale corrugations and is the thinnest material ever isolated.3
a) b)
Figure 2. a) Scanning probe microscopic image of graphene using a scanning tunnelling microscope for imaging surfaces at the atomic level (U.S. Army Materiel Command, 2012) b) ADF-STEM image of graphene structure9
The synthesis of graphene, beyond the “Scotch-tape method” of mechanical exfoliation has proven somewhat complicated, with a primary focus on isolating samples with a minimal density of defects and high carrier mobility.9 Different methods produce varying mobility, though mechanical exfoliation proves to be one of the most effective (mobility = μ =
In 1779, Carl Wilhelm Scheele showed another allotrope of carbon graphite, which were known as a form of lead in early times. He found out that graphite was almost identical to charcoal except a small admixture of iron, and when it oxidized with nitric acid, it gave out “aerial acid” (carbon dioxide). In 1786, the French scientists Claude Louis Berthollet, Gaspard Monge and Vandermonde confirmed that graphite was mostly carbon by oxidizing with oxygen in the same way
The use of nano-materials and extreme precision micro-engineering has the potential for great improvement in the world of electronics and information technology by providing smaller, faster, and more powerful computers and this has been at the forefront of the nanotechnology commercialization . Great examples of how nanotechnology is currently being used in these fields are products such as processors, data storage, and memory components made with nano-materials, TVs, monitors and even smartphone screens that use organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), and waterproof electronics such as smartphones due to the application of nano-coatings
Graphene synthesis usually utilise a method called exfoliation, which is defined as taking the outermost layer of graphite. There are three major types of exfoliation: chemical, mechanical, and thermal. The paper mainly focuses on chemical and mechanical exfoliation for graphene synthesis, which are the methods with highest number of experiments done.
It is currently used to manufacturer sporting goods and electronic components. Scientists tout graphene as the next silicon. The material is one million times thinner than paper and harder than diamonds, while conducting 200 times more electricity than silicon – a tremendous implication for the electronics industry. These advances come at a hefty price, but researchers at Caltech have discovered an improved manufacturing process for the material. Once researchers refine this process, manufacturers may also use the material for goods such as solar power and surface
Different structural arrangements in the carbon atoms determine the outcome of the mineral. Diamonds are the hardest mineral; they are formed under a covalent bond which is very strong. Graphite on the other hand is one of the softest; it is held with a softer bond. Despite the difference in structure, both of these minerals are made from the same substance, pure carbon.
Graphite is one of the softest known materials, while diamond is the hardest known material.
Carbon is the fundamental element for everything on Earth. All life on Earth depends on carbon. Carbon has different forms of allotropes including diamond, graphene and charcoal. Carbon is found in position 12, with 4 colvalent electrons. All the allotropes have different properties nd uses due to how the carbon atoms are bonded. Carbon is able to single, double and triple bond with other elements to form complex molecules. Carbon can also use its four electrons to form diamond, where it is strong and stable, or three electrons to form graphite found in pencils, buckyball or all forms of nanocarbon including carbon nanotube.
This conglomerate composed of protein-lipid, sponge-like carbon, and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was administrated by the researchers to mice in order to study the material’s ability to “transport the hydrophobic drug docetaxel (DTX) and perfluorohexane (PFH) for deep tumor penetration and therapy” (Su et al, 2016). The Lf-lipo-GNS composite is capable of carrying large amounts of drugs in its pores which can be released through the absorption of light by the GNS. By applying near-infrared (NIR) irradiation, the gasification of PFH occurs due to “an increase in local temperature” in the graphene nanosponge which as a result “damages and ruptures tumor spheroids” (Su et al, 2016). Consequently, the combined effects of “gasification and chemo- and thermotherapy” can substantially reduce tumors and even completely eliminate them without future reappearance.
Graphene is easy to make you only need Scotch tape and some pencil lead (carbon is not lead it is graphite). It is one of the most versatile elements and is in all forms of steel. Due to graphite being so soft it is a great lubricant and can be bought in a very fine powder for that application. Diamonds are one of the hardest material. Diamonds have found applications in jewelry to tools and equipment. The best tools you can buy have micro diamonds inserted into the metal of the tools. Diamond drill bits are able to drill into hardened metal without breaking or severely disfiguring the bits. However if you heat diamonds up to much they will be oxidized into carbon dioxide. Fires make micro diamonds that almost immediately burn up. The structural difference of these two forms are interesting. The graphite has a hexagonal structure, and the diamond has a square crystalline structure which accounts for its hardness. Since carbon is a group 4a element, meaning it has two inner electrons and four outer and needs four or to give four electrons to get its perfect form, and most bonds of carbon are hexagonal or like a tree with branches coming off from the carbon. Carbon has the highest number of possible bonds of all of the elements, which is why it is the basis of life and organisms are able to be so different.
The term graphene should be used only when the reactions, structural relations or other properties of individual layers are discussed.”
Carbon is the 15th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and is the 4th most abundant element by mass in the universe. It is found in a large majority of organic material on Earth and its ability to bond in many different ways allows for a large diversity of organic compounds. These organic compounds that are formed in different shapes and structures are called allotropes. Carbon is a special element that is the base for almost all organic compounds and since it can form many allotropes of itself, and its allotropes have many different uses that can be applied to modern science. The most common allotropes of carbon are: diamonds, amorphous carbon, graphite, nanotubes, and fullerenes. Some of these allotropes have already made big
In 1855, English scientific expert Benjamin Brodie delivered pure graphite from carbon, demonstrating graphite was also a type of carbon.(4)
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) take the form of cylindrical carbon molecules and have untapped properties that make them potentially useful in a wide variety of applications in nanotechnology, electronics, optics, and other fields of materials science. They exhibit extraordinary strength and unique electrical properties, apart from being efficient conductors of heat. Inorganic nanotubes have also been synthesized, by researchers intrigued by this particular field.
Graphene is a form of carbon which has recently been receiving a great deal of attention. Some have come to call it “the wonder material” due to its many extraordinary properties. Although isolated in 2004, graphene's properties had been calculated decades earlier. It consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. A single sheet of graphene is stronger than steel and yet remains very flexible, retaining all of its properties despite being bent and unbent multiple times. It is able to sustain extremely high electric current densities, is impermeable to all gasses, has a thermal conductivity double that of diamond and a very high electron mobility at room temperature. It is also easily chemically functionalized,
In 2004, two scientists prepared the graphene, a single planar layer of graphite, which has a double carbon atoms bonds. Each carbon atom joins itself with three atoms by strong σ covalent bonds, the strong carbon-carbon bonding granted graphene a rigid structure. With four valence electrons, each carbon atom can contribute one unbounded electron to form π bonds above the plane of the carbon sheet. Graphene layers arrange as hexagons and every hexagon is completely surrounded by other hexagons that are packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice as shown in Figure 1 3. Their thickness is about one atom thick [6] and their bond-length in the range of 0.142nm[7][8]. Thus, in 1 mm thick graphite, there are about 3 million graphene sheets[9]. The 2010 Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to the two scientists: Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov from University of Manchester (UK) for their research in graphene - discovery. Also, the surface area of the single sheet is 2630 m2/g [10].