Discoveries like graphene are often happy accidents. In the 19th century, scientists began to create plastic through a series of experiments gone both right and wrong. Little did anyone know how much plastic would change the world.

In 2004, two researchers at the University of Manchester unintentionally confirmed its existence. Using a roll of adhesive tape, they isolated graphene into one atom of thickness for the very first time. That moment won them the 2010 Nobel Prize. It also marked the beginning of a new era. History books may likely say so in the years to come.

WHAT IS GRAPHENE?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms bound into a tight, hexagon shape. It is as close to two-dimensional as any known substance. It measures one atom thick, which is about a million times thinner than the human hair. It is the thinnest known material on earth. If that’s not impressive enough, it also remains stable when exposed to elements like oxygen and temperature changes.

While being the world’s thinnest substance, graphene is also the lightest. One square meter weighs about 0.77 milligrams. In addition to being thinnest and lightest material, graphene is also the strongest, measuring at 100-300 times stronger than steel. Its stiffness is 150,000,000 pounds per square inch (psi), which is harder than a diamond.

What does graphene mean for humanity? If correctly executed, graphene can put plastic out of business, literally. Its capabilities aren’t just limited to replacing plastic, but also materials like steel, which graphene overpowers in strength by 200 times, silicon, glass, rubber, and more.

The composition of this superhero material consists of carbon, the very property that allows life on earth. Therefore, graphene can help the planet in several ways. Thus far, tests in this area have revealed graphene to be a much more sustainable option for electronics, magnetic and chemical sensors, energy protection and storage, and photodetectors, to name a few.

THE ENVIRONMENT ON GRAPHENE

Climate change is instilling many scientists with a sense of doom, particularly with the lack of actionable steps humanity is taking as a whole. Graphene could offer some hope. Environmental uses are the tip of the iceberg for graphene’s impact.

Solar panels can operate on hundreds of times more efficiency and power storage than standard batteries, decreasing costs while increasing efficiency and producing clean energy. Graphene can also create drinkable water from the ocean by compressing larger salt molecules out.

GRAPHENE IN MEDICINE

If you want to test your blood and get instant results without a trip to a physician, graphene can make that possible. It can also be used to create implants in the brain, eyes, and other parts of the body to cure diseases and improve mobility and function.

Nanobots, or microscopic robots, can be put into the human body to find and eliminate lethal cells. The result is improvement in the reduction of diseases such as diabetes and cancer. It’s possible that the toxic version of graphene may eventually be used to create antibiotics and tissue regeneration.

ELECTRICITY

Graphene’s superpowers keep expanding. It’s been shown to conduct electricity more efficiently than any other material in known existence. Wires made of graphene will not lose any heat or electricity while power moves through them. The future may show our current wires and cables becoming obsolete. Graphene’s ability to transmit 97.7% of light may allow for TV and computer screens to windows.

Another electricity-related portal for graphene is in batteries. The potential advancements for electrical engineering are dependent on graphene supercapacitors, which will increase battery power storage, lightness, flexibility, efficiency, and cost effectiveness of standard lithium-ion batteries we are limited to today.

Battery-powered electric cars were the wave of the future before losing momentum. Their short battery life and high cost made them slow down on their entry to the transportation market.

Graphene may help electric cars make a comeback. Due to its strength and resistance, graphene can keep a car battery going for over 300 miles before it needs to recharge. Graphene can ultimately reshape our oil-driven global economy. From earphones to robots, phone cases to airplanes, graphene’s potential to improve battery life is limitless.

For example, the highest quality type of graphene can be a better conductor than copper. Its performance at room temperature has made it the most impressive known conductor known of heat and electricity. It can also absorb light across the near-infrared parts of the spectrum. That makes it useful in spintronics, or the study of an electron’s spin in a magnetic state.

OTHER USES

Graphene’s flexible, light, and strong nature has caught the attention of athletic companies. The sports supply industry is starting to use graphene in helmets, soles of shoes, and other normally plastic items. The paper, cardboard, clothing, and food industries are already starting to utilize graphene in their products.

If graphene sounds too good to be true, it almost is. The infinite possibilities from graphene don’t come without obstacles. Creating graphene materials often requires the use of toxic chemicals at high temperatures. Moreso, it is difficult to grow layers of graphene on anything other than metal surfaces, limiting its capabilities in electronics without damaging it.

Consequently, the biggest hindrance to graphene coming onto the mass market is cost. Its manufacturing process is expensive due to its complicated nature. Even though scientists are making progress on manufacturing graphene in more affordable ways, there is no guarantee it will be popular at first.

The industries graphene will challenge (like plastic, most prominently), will likely challenge its market expansion every step of the way.

These hurdles among others are partly why the rollout of graphene to the world market has been slow on the uptake. Some researchers predict that the year 2030 will see graphene used widely in biology. Until then, graphene needs to undergo trials for safety and regulation.

THE FUTURE OF GRAPHENE

Even still, the future is bright for (and with) graphene. Once the kinks are ironed out, its impact is sure to be historic. Thus far, nearly 30,000 companies have filed patent applications for the material. When the material officially enters the market, its acceptance is somewhat unpredictable. It could take years of attempts before one company figures out how to present it in a way that meets the demands of consumers.

While a future with graphene may seem like a supernatural phenomenon, its potential to change the world is enormous. A life where ocean water can be made easily drinkable, brain implants cure chronic diseases, and electricity becomes the purest form of clean energy is not just a dream, but an achievable reality.

Just like plastic revolutionized the world, graphene is sure to do the same. While time is the biggest hindrance, daily economic and scientific advancements make it more possible for graphene to improve our world. Keep your eyes open for its grand entrance.

Don Basile | April 10, 2019 |

Don Basile is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the technology, healthcare, and telecommunications industries. He has previously written for publications including TechCrunch, Forbes, and The Next Web. He also writes frequently about graphene and other new technologies through his > blogs and personal website.

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If you think these goals might be difficult to meet, you’re right. Reports show progress is lacking in many of the 17 categories, implying they may not be met by the target date of 2030. However, paired with progress in social and political arenas, advances in science and technology could be a key accelerant to progress too.

Just one example? Graphene, a futuristic material with a growing set of potential applications.

Graphene is comprised of tightly-knit carbon atoms arranged into a sheet only one atom thick. This makes it the thinnest substance ever made, yet it is 200 times stronger than steel, flexible, stretchable, self-healing, transparent, more conductive than copper, and even superconductive. A square meter of graphene weighing a mere 0.0077 grams can support four kilograms. It is a truly remarkable material—but this isn’t news to science and tech geeks.

Headlines touting graphene as the next wonder material have been a regular occurrence in the last decade, and the trip from promise to practicality has felt a bit lengthy. But that’s not unexpected; it can take time for new materials to go mainstream. Meanwhile, the years researching graphene have yielded a long list of reasons to keep at it.

Since first isolated in 2004 at the University of Manchester—work that led to a Nobel Prize in 2010— researchers all over the world have been developing radical ways to use and, importantly, make graphene. Indeed, one of the primary factors holding back widespread adoption has been how to produce graphene at scale on the cheap, limiting it to the lab and a handful of commercial applications. Fortunately, there have been advances toward mass production.

Last year, for example, a team from Kansas State University used explosions to synthesize large quantities of graphene. Their method is simple: Fill a chamber with acetylene or ethylene gas and oxygen. Use a vehicle spark plug to create a contained detonation. Collect the graphene that forms afterward. Acetylene and ethylene are composed of carbon and hydrogen, and when the hydrogen is consumed in the explosion, the carbon is free to bond with itself, forming graphene. This method is efficient because all it takes is a single spark.

Whether this technique will usher in the graphene revolution, as some have claimed, remains to be seen. What’s more certain is there will be no shortage of problems solved when said revolution arrives. Here’s a look at the ways today’s research suggests graphene may help the UN meet its ambitious development goals.

Clean Water

SDG 6 is to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” As of now, the UN estimates that “water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of the global population and is projected to rise.”

Graphene-based filters could very well be the solution. Jiro Abraham from the University of Manchester helped develop scalable graphene oxide sieves to filter seawater. He claims, “The developed membranes are not only useful for desalination, but the atomic scale tunability of the pore size also opens new opportunity to fabricate membranes with on-demand filtration capable of filtering out ions according to their sizes.”

Furthermore, researchers from Monash University and the University of Kentucky have developed graphene filters that can filter out anything larger than one nanometer. They say their filters “could be used to filter chemicals, viruses, or bacteria from a range of liquids. It could be used to purify water, dairy products or wine, or in the production of pharmaceuticals.”

Carbon Emissions

SDG 13 focuses on taking “urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.”

Of course, one of the main culprits behind climate change is the excessive amount of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere. Graphene membranes have been developed that can capture these emissions.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina and Hanyang University in South Korea independently developed graphene-based filters that can be used to separate unwanted gases from industrial, commercial, and residential emissions. Henry Foley at the University of Missouri has claimed these discoveries are “something of a holy grail.”

With these, the world might be able to stem the rise of CO2 in the atmosphere, especially now that we have crossed the important 400 parts per million threshold.

Healthcare

Many around the world do not have access to adequate healthcare, but graphene may have an impact here as well.

First of all, graphene’s high mechanical strength makes it a perfect material for replacing body parts like bones, and because of its conductivity it can replace body parts that require electrical current, like organs and nerves. In fact, researchers at the Michigan Technological University are working on using 3D printers to print graphene-based nerves, and this team is developing biocompatible materials using graphene to conduct electricity.

Graphene can also be used to make biomedical sensors for detecting diseases, viruses, and other toxins. Because every atom of graphene is exposed, due to it being only one atom thick, sensors can be far more sensitive. Graphene oxide sensors, for example, could detect toxins at levels 10 times less than today’s sensors. These sensors could be placed on or under the skin and provide doctors and researchers with vast amounts of information.

Chinese scientists have even created a sensor that can detect a single cancerous cell. Further, scientists at the University of Manchester report graphene oxide can hunt and neutralize cancer stem cells.

Infrastructure

SDG 9 is to “build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.” Graphene-enhanced composites and other building materials could bring us closer to meeting this goal.

Recent research shows that the more graphene is added, the better the composite becomes. This means graphene can be added to building materials like concrete, aluminum, etc., which will allow for stronger and lighter materials.

Resins are also getting better thanks to the addition of graphene. Research by Graphene Flagship, the EU’s billion-euro project to further graphene research, and their partner Avanzare suggests “graphene enhances the functionality of the resin, combining graphene’s electrical conductivity and mechanical strength with excellent corrosion resistance.” Some uses for this are making pipes and storage tanks corrosion-resistant, and making stronger adhesives.

Energy

SDG 7 is to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” Because of its light weight, conductivity, and tensile strength, graphene may make sustainable energy cheaper and more efficient.

For example, graphene composites can be used to create more versatile solar panels. Researchers at MIT say, “The ability to use graphene…is making possible truly flexible, low-cost, transparent solar cells that can turn virtually any surface into a source of electric power.”

We’ll also be able to build bigger and lighter wind turbines thanks to graphene composites.

Further, graphene is already being used to enhance traditional lithium-ion batteries, which are the batteries commonly found in consumer electronics. Research is also being done into graphene aerogels for energy storage and supercapacitors. All of these will be essential for large-scale storage of renewable energy.

Over the next decade, graphene is likely to find more and more uses out in the real world, not only helping the UN and member states meet the SDGs, but enhancing everything from touch screens to MRI machines and from transistors to unknown uses as a superconductor.

New research is being published and new patents being filed regularly, so keep an eye out for this amazing material.

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This ultra-strong, ultra-thin supermaterial could yield a technological revolution. Here are a few of its most impressive tricks so far

Graphene might be one of the world’s most useful materials. Though it’s only one carbon atom thick, it’s many times stronger than steel, and highly flexible to boot.

Ever since it was first isolated by researchers in 2004, the list of patents involving graphene has grown exponentially every year. It may not be long before this supermaterial spawns a technological revolution that could truly change the world.

1. Fuel from the air

The same researchers who won the Nobel Prize for isolating graphene, Andre Geim of Manchester University and colleagues, have shown that graphene could be used to make mobile electric generators powered by hydrogen extracted from the air. Geim’s team discovered that although graphene is impermeable to even the smallest of atoms, it can be used to sieve hydrogen atoms stripped of their electrons.

This means graphene films could be used to vastly improve the efficiency of proton-conducting membranes, which are essential components of fuel-cell technology. Geim imagines a future in which vehicles could be powered just by the tiny amounts of hydrogen in ambient air. “Essentially, you pump your fuel from the atmosphere and get electricity out of it,” Geim said.

2. Protection from mosquitoes

The same impermeability that comes into play with fuel cells raises other potential uses for graphene, including keeping mosquitoes at bay. In this application, researchers found two pathways to block these deadly insects.

Layers of graphene can block mosquitoes’ ability to sense skin- or sweat-associated chemicals, researchers at Brown University discovered, offering the potential of an unusual, non-chemical approach to dealing with them. On top of that, the layers provide a physical barrier that mosquitoes simply can’t bite through. Their work, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, initially focused on the mechanical solution but quickly uncovered the graphene’s other secret ability.

The next step is to work on creating a version of the graphene barrier that works as effectively when wet as it does when dry, as the mosquitoes were able to get their fascicle, or feeding apparatus, through the fabric when it was wet.

3. More available drinkable water

Graphene could help solve the world water crisis. Membranes made from graphene can be big enough to let water through, but small enough to filter out the salt. In other words, graphene could revolutionize desalination technology. MIT researchers have found “that the water permeability of this material is several orders of magnitude higher than conventional reverse osmosis membranes, and that nanoporous graphene may have a valuable role to play for water purification.”

In fact, a type of graphene has proven so effective at water filtration that it rendered water samples from Sydney Harbor safe to drink after passing through the filter just once. In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers with Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) used a form of graphene called “Graphair” to make the seawater drinkable after a single treatment.

“This technology can create clean drinking water, regardless of how dirty it is, in a single step,” CSIRO scientist Dong Han Seo said in a statement. “All that’s needed is heat, our graphene, a membrane filter and a small water pump. We’re hoping to commence field trials in a developing-world community next year.”

Additional research published in Materials Science & Engineering C in 2019 took that concept a step further, making the need for chlorination obsolete. Scientists from Russia’s National University of Science and Technology (MISiS) and others showed that injecting graphene oxide into a solution containing E.coli, the graphene “captures” the bacteria by forming flakes, according to Eureka Alert. Once the flakes were fished out of the solution, the water was drinkable and the graphene could even be reused.

4. Electronics

Forget Silicon Valley; the future may rest in Graphene Valley. Today our electronic devices rely on silicon as a key component, but transistors made of silicon are approaching the minimum size at which they can be effective, which means the speed of our devices will soon bottom out. Yet the ultra-thin nature of graphene could be the answer to this problem. It may not be long before graphene replaces silicon in our electronic devices, making them faster than ever before.

Graphene will also make it possible to build super thin, flexible touchscreens that would be virtually unbreakable. You’ll never have to worry about shattering your smartphone again.

In 2018, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University revealed that graphene can have even more surprising electronic properties. It can be tuned to behave at two electric extremes: as an insulator or a superconductor. In other words, the same material can either block the flow of electrons or conduct an electrical stream without resistance.

“We can now use graphene as a new platform for investigating unconventional superconductivity,” says Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, an associate professor of physics at MIT, in a statement. “One can also imagine making a superconducting transistor out of graphene, which you can switch on and off, from superconducting to insulating. That opens many possibilities for quantum devices.”

5. Predator vision

The classic sci-fi action film “Predator” features an alien assassin that has the ability to see the world in thermal infrared. Now, thanks to graphene, you might be able to have “Predator” vision. Researchers from the University of Michigan have developed a graphene contact lens that allows wearer to sense the whole infrared spectrum — plus visible and ultraviolet light.

“If we integrate it with a contact lens or other wearable electronics, it expands your vision,” said Zhaohui Zhong, one of the researchers developing the technology. “It provides you another way of interacting with your environment.”

6. A better condom

Graphene may even have the ability to improve your sex life. Condoms made from graphene can be super-thin, which means more sensation. They would also be super-strong, which means they’re less likely to break — the true test of any condom.

“If this project is successful, we might have a use for graphene which will touch our everyday life in the most intimate way,” said Aravind Vijayaraghavan, the materials scientist leading research into graphene condoms, in 2013.

The quest for a graphene condom has been slower than some advocates expected, but it’s still going. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation made waves in 2013 when it funded research on graphene condoms, and while that effort has languished a bit, it has shown enough promise to earn additional funding. In the meantime, at least one company has jumped on the bandwagon with a “graphene-inspired condom,” which doesn’t actually use graphene but borrows its hexagonal structure.

Because graphene is virtually impermeable, a coat of graphene-based paint could one day be used to eradicate corrosion and rust. Researchers have even shown that glassware or copper plates covered with graphene paint can be used as containers for strongly corrosive acids.

“Graphene paint has a good chance to become a truly revolutionary product for industries that deal with any kind of protection either from air, weather elements or corrosive chemicals,” said Rahul Nair, one of the researchers developing the technology. “Those include, for example, medical, electronics and nuclear industry or even shipbuilding, to name but the few.”

8. Glowing wallpaper

Glowing walls could soon replace the light bulb, thanks to the development of new graphene-based electrode technology that makes displays thinner than ever before. Such glowing “wallpaper” provides more pleasant, adjustable light across a room than light bulbs can, and it can also be made more energy-efficient. And, let’s face it, few things seem more futuristic than illuminated “Tron”-like walls.

“By using graphene instead of conventional metal electrodes, components of the future will be much easier to recycle and thereby environmentally attractive,” said Nathaniel Robinson of Linköping University, where the tech is being developed.

9. Bionic humans

If you feel overly integrated with your technology already, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Graphene research is now leading to experiments where electronics can integrate with your biological systems. Basically, it may soon be possible to be implanted with graphene gadgets that can read your nervous system or talk to your cells.

This could lead to breakthroughs in medical science, helping doctors monitor your body or even adjust your biological systems for optimal health. The technology could also help fitness fanatics track and monitor their workout regimens.

10. Better, safer hair dyes

This may not change the world quite as much as some other applications, but graphene has also shown promise as a safer alternative to toxic hair dyes. In a 2018 study, researchers from Northwestern University report that graphene can not only match the performance of permanent hair dyes, but it can do so without any organic solvents or toxic molecular ingredients. On top of that, it can offer enhanced antibacterial, antistatic and thermal-dissipation properties to hair.

The researchers sprayed a graphene-oxide gel onto blond human hair and let it dry for 10 minutes. The strands of hair were coated in a graphene film just 2 microns thick, which reportedly stayed in place even after 30 washes. The antistatic properties could offer further aesthetic benefits, and the coating should cause no harm to your hair or health, the study’s authors say.

“This is an idea that was inspired by curiosity. It was very fun to do, but it didn’t sound very big and noble when we started working on it,” says senior author Jiaxing Huang, a materials scientist at Northwestern, in a statement. “But after we deep-dived into studying hair dyes, we realized that, wow, this is actually not at all a small problem. And it’s one that graphene could really help to solve.”

11. Bulletproof armour

Given how thin and strong graphene is, it seems inevitable that it should also be used to build improved bulletproof vests. Sure enough, researchers have found that sheets of graphene absorbed twice as much impact as Kevlar, the material commonly used in bulletproof vests. Also an improvement over Kevlar, graphene is super-lightweight and therefore less restrictive to wear. The breakthrough could help keep our soldiers and law enforcement officers safe when being fired at. The thin nature of graphene could even lead to developments in other bulletproof surfaces, such as windows.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated since it was originally published in December 2014.

Bryan Nelson ( @@brynelson ) writes about everything from environmental problems here on Earth to big questions in space.

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Effective devices for rapid screening of pathogens and viruses have always been major issues throughout the world and with the emergence of the worldwide Coronavirus epidemic, technology developments for concurrent and rapid screening of these pathogens / viruses have become an increasing important requirement.
In order to address these issues, RINZTECH NZ LTD led by Rajendra Joshi and our research and development team are working on protocols to develop a graphene based smart detector for pathogen detection. The systems are being designed to detect viral pathogens, including the COVID-19 virus in under a minute.

Our research team using similar protocols and equipment have already conducted several successful earlier trials to detect E.coli, Salmonella, water and food bound pathogens. Based on this system we can develop diagnostic platforms that can greatly enhance the prevention and control of infectious diseases.

Development of a practical monitoring:

Development of a practical monitoring method for viral pathogens is important not only for prevention of a pandemic, such as coronavirus, but also for early detection of oncogenic viral infections. By the modern diagnostic methods, it is possible to detect the presence of a human infectious virus only when the symptoms appear in the infected people, e.g., a cough and fever. These symptoms may manifest themselves too late for prevention of fatal effects of the infection. The mainstream methods for diagnosis are based on the detection of viral antigens and/or nucleic acids of viruses, but they generally require specialized equipment and trained personnel. To reduce the costs and time, some emerging diagnostic assays have been developed, such as a proximity ligation assay, biosensor-based methods, fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based methods, microarray assays, and in particular, nanoparticle-based techniques.

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool for studying reactions in intact live cells. The Raman analysis proposed here offers an opportunity to detect unknown human infectious viruses in the absence of human patients. It works on cultured human cells and indicates the presence of a virus within a short period. Because Raman analysis can detect virus infection in a single cell, analysis can be conducted with fewer virus particles than the minimal accessible number of virus particles during a clinical infection.

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