Surprise of "disruptive technology": the thinnest and fastest nanomaterial graphene

　　Recently, at the 19th China International High-tech Fair held in Shenzhen, graphene, as a unique new material, once again attracted people’s attention and became the largest and most influential technology exhibition in China. The "star". What are the magical features of graphene and what surprises can it bring to people? The reporter interviewed relevant experts.

　　Recently, at the 19th China International High-tech Fair held in Shenzhen, graphene, as a unique new material, once again attracted people’s attention and became the largest and most influential technology exhibition in China. The "star". What are the magical features of graphene and what surprises can it bring to people? The reporter interviewed relevant experts.

　　Mankind is advancing in the information age with silicon as the main material carrier. In the next quantum era, graphene is likely to emerge. 　　 Like diamond, graphite is a form of carbon. Interestingly, due to the difference in atomic structure, diamond is the hardest thing in nature on earth, while graphite has become one of the softest minerals, often made into graphite rods and pencil leads.

　　Scientists said that graphene is a flat crystal that is exfoliated from graphite materials and consists of only a layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb hexagon. In layman's terms, graphene is a single-layer graphite. A piece of graphite with a thickness of 1 millimeter contains about 3 million layers of graphene; a lightly stroked pencil on the paper may leave traces of good multilayer graphene.webcam factory

　　This two-dimensional material with a thickness of only one atom has always been regarded as a hypothetical structure and cannot exist independently. Until 2004, two British scientists successfully separated graphene from graphite, proving that it can exist alone, and therefore jointly won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics.

　　According to Dr. Gao Tao, director of the Key Laboratory of Microwave and Millimeter Wave Monolithic Integration and Module Circuits, Director of the 55 Institute of China Electric Power, the unique structure of graphene makes it more conductive, more heat transfer, harder, and more transparent. The electrical, thermal, mechanical, optical and other aspects of performance. Lightweight, strong, conductive, thermally conductive... these characteristics of graphene give people a lot of imagination.

　　Graphene is characterized by its thinness. It is currently the thinnest material in the world. It is only as thick as one atom, about 0.3 nanometers, which is one hundred thousandth of the thickness of a piece of A4 paper and half a millionth of a strand of hair. one. At the same time, graphene is harder than diamond, with a light transmittance of 97.7%, making it the hardest and thinnest nanomaterial in the world.

　　At the same time, it can conduct electricity. Graphene's electrons run at a speed of 1,000 kilometers per second, which is 1/300 of the speed of light, and is very suitable for manufacturing next-generation ultra-high frequency electronic devices. Graphene is also a master at conducting heat, 10 times stronger than silver, which is the most conductive.

　　The characteristics of graphene are also very "fun". For example, when a drop of water rolls on the surface of graphene, graphene can keenly "perceive" subtle movements and generate a continuous current. This feature provides scientists with a new idea-to obtain electricity from the flow of water. For example, an umbrella coated with graphene can be used to generate electricity on rainy days, or it can be made into a sensitive sensor device.

　　"Humanity has gone through the stone, pottery, bronze, and iron ages, and is advancing in the information age with silicon as the main material carrier; and which material will emerge in the next quantum age? It is likely to be graphene." Zhejiang University Polymers Said Gao Chao, a professor in the Department of Science and Engineering.

　　In the future, electric cars will use graphene batteries, which can be fully charged in two to three minutes

　　Because of the magical properties of graphene, its easy preparation and multi-dimensional research perspectives, its application potential is huge, and its applicable industries are broad. It is not surprising that it has become an eye-catching material "new star". Graphene has been discovered in only more than 10 years, and many shocking research results have been obtained, and it can be said to be the fastest material in human history from discovery to application.

　　Superbly speaking, from the perspective of materials chemistry, graphene will bring changes or changes in the fields of resources, environment, chemicals, materials, energy, sensing, transportation machinery, optoelectronic information, health and intelligence, aerospace, etc. my country's graphite ore reserves are abundant, accounting for about 75% of the world's total. Its efficient development will lead to new positioning, new thinking, and new plans for carbon resources and my country's large-resource strategy.

　　The industrialized production of graphene will promote technological upgrading in the chemical, machinery, intelligent manufacturing, and automatic control industries. The addition of graphene can produce multifunctional composite materials for the manufacture of high-performance batteries and capacitors. Graphene sensors can show their talents in biological detection and photodetection, and heterogeneous composite materials of graphene and other two-dimensional materials can make high-performance transistors.

　　It can be said that graphene technology will have an impact on our food, clothing, housing, transportation, use, and play. Graphene composite film has good oxygen and water barrier properties, which can improve the shelf life of food; graphene fibers can be made into heating clothing and medical and health care products; graphene electric heating film has high electrothermal conversion efficiency and can gradually replace heaters for heating; graphene series materials are available In vehicles, trains and other vehicles, graphene thermal film can be used for efficient heat dissipation of mobile phones...

　　Another application area where graphene is highly expected is electrical energy storage. Its advantage lies in its fast charging speed and can be reused tens of thousands of times. However, graphene currently does not store as much electricity as batteries, and it cannot store enough electricity. In the future, with the increasing improvement of charging facilities and the advancement of related technologies, electric vehicles use graphene batteries, which can be fully charged in two or three minutes.

　　According to Dr. Kong Yuechan, deputy director of the Key Laboratory of Microwave and Millimeter Wave Monolithic Integration and Module Circuits at the 55th Institute of Electronic Technology of China, the electron running speed of graphene is ten times that of silicon, and high-frequency devices made of graphene can theoretically operate at frequencies. Ten times or even hundreds of times that of silicon. The technological revolution triggered by graphene is likely to start with the small chips that people commonly use.

　　In addition, researchers have completed the development of flexible substrate transistors and are trying to develop flexible communication circuits. In the future, whether it is a foldable display screen or a wearable device that can be implanted into the human body, it may be realized by such graphene devices.

　　Gao Tao believes that even under laboratory conditions, the magical properties of graphene have not been fully released. Because there are still many challenges at the technical level, there is still a long way to go for real large-scale applications. However, by strengthening the combination of demand and research, and continuously making important breakthroughs in the preparation of graphene materials and device development, and creating more newer and more disruptive applications, graphene, a new generation of strategic emerging materials, will greatly change People's production and life.

　　Domestic graphene research is basically synchronized with foreign countries, and it is expected to form a graphene industry in the near future

　　Graphene has always been an international research hotspot, and it is heating up. In recent years, the global graphene-related papers and invention patents have increased almost exponentially. Not only have various excellent physical and chemical properties been predicted and confirmed, but also many specific research directions have emerged from this.

　　It is understood that many countries are competing for the commanding heights of graphene technology. The European Union’s Graphene Flagship Program takes graphene sensing as the main research direction. The United States is trying to use graphene to achieve flexibility in communication and has achieved remarkable results. South Korea continues to support the research of graphene flexible displays and has prepared demonstration products.