An ultralight graphene structure for all seasons

Chemistry World ^ | 12 October 2012 | Jon Cartwright

[neverdem]

The graphene framework is not only light, it's flame resistant and mops up oil © Wiley-VCH

Chemists in China claim to have created the lightest graphene framework to date. The material, which is light enough to rest on a dandelion seed head, is also fire resistant and has record-breaking adsorption and capacitance.

The development of ultralight materials has exploded in recent years. Last year, engineers in the US presented a material made of hollow metallic tubes in a micro-lattice. With a density of 0.9mg/cm³, the material was 100 times lighter than styrofoam. Yet that record was beaten in July, when material scientists in Germany produced what they called aerographite: a network of carbon microtubes with a density of just 0.2mg/cm³.

Although the latest material, which has a density of 2.1mg/cm³, does not approach these records, it is the lightest graphene framework to date. Graphene, which took the 2010 Nobel prize for physics, is a two-dimensional layer of graphite just one atom thick arranged in a chickenwire pattern. Importantly, graphene has superlative electrical and mechanical properties, which scientists are eager to capitalise on.

Liangti Qu at the Beijing Institute of Technology, China, with colleagues from there and Tsinghua University, also in Beijing, have developed their graphene framework by regulating the graphene’s carbon–carbon bonds, using nitrogen as a dopant. To make their material they treat an aqueous suspension of graphene oxide with pyrrole – an aromatic, nitrogen-containing compound – in a steam oven. The pyrrole acts as a ‘swelling agent’, preventing the graphene oxide from self-stacking so that a large framework can be formed. The process leaves a gel, which the researchers freeze dry and then anneal at high temperatures.

Lighter than a feather

The resultant material has the...

[neverdem]

There are 2 short videos at the source.

[Tony O]

It's a dandelion!

[Doogle]

"....this stuff is right up Joe Biden's alley"

[moovova]

WOG

Wiley oil gatherers...

[Right Wing Assault]

the material could be used as a supercapacitor

This could be interesting!

[neverdem]

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[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem. Graphene is *easily* the most popular form of carbon here on FR.

• An ultralight graphene structure for all seasons
• New material may replace silicon
• Unique Properties of Graphene Lead to a New Paradigm for Low-Power Telecommunications
• High-frequency self-aligned graphene transistors with transferred gate stacks ( 400+ GHz )
• Rapid synthesis of graphene capsules
• Graphene emits infrared light
• Nanomachines could benefit from superlubricity
• Graphene puts wet chemistry under the microscope
• Scientists Manipulate Electrons Into Material Never Seen on Earth
• Graphyne Could Be Better Than Graphene
• Graphene shows unusual thermoelectric response to light
• Flash Memory That'll Keep On Shrinking
• Graphite + water = the future of energy storage
• Guess Who Controls 80% Of The World's Next Wonder Material
• IBM Builds World First Graphene Integrated Circuit
• Big Blue shows off fastest graphene transistor ( 155 Ghz
• Is space like a chessboard?
• Tuning graphene film so it sheds water
• New transistors: An alternative to silicon and better than graphene (molybdenite)
• Nobel Prize for physics goes to Manchester University scientists (for creating Graphene)
• Graphene Under Strain Creates Gigantic Pseudo-Magnetic Fields
• Graphene is Next
• Weird "Particles" Spotted in Hot New Material
• Tough material, 1 atom thick, has scientists abuzz
• MIT Graphene Multiplier May Push CPUs to 1,000 GHz
• UC San Diego Physicists Reveal Secrets of Newest Form of Carbon
• Graphene has record-breaking strength
• Graphene Used To Create World's Smallest Transistor
• Nano switch hints at future chips
• Graphene Gazing Gives Glimpse Of Foundations Of Universe
• Physicists show electrons can travel over 100 times faster in graphene than in silicon
• IBM Scientists "Quiet" Unruly Electrons in Atomic Layers of Graphite
• Getting more from Moore's Law
• The Charge of the Ultra - Capacitors (Sexy capacitor pics!)
• It's Super Paper!
• Scientists slice graphite into atom-thick sheets

[grey_whiskers]

If the Chicoms are behind it, what are the military applications?

How strong is it for the weight (aircraft frames)?

Can it be used as a substrate to purify water (adsorption of toxins)?

Cheers!

[neverdem]

For your perusal ping