User:Rbabu/Sandbox

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-                                                                == GRAPHENE ==

It is a form of carbon consisting of planar sheets which are one atom thick and the carbon atoms are bonded together in a hexagonal honeycomb lattice. It is an allotrope of carbon in the structure of a plane of sp2 bonded atoms with a molecule bond length of 0.142 nm and interplanar spacing of 0.335nm.

== PROPERTIES ==

It is the thinnest compound known to man at one atom thick, the lightest material(1 square meter weighs around 0.77mg), the strongest compound discovered( between 100-300 times stronger than steel and with a tensile strength of 150,000,000 psi), the best conductor of heat at room temperature (at (4.84+0.44)*1000 to 5.30+0.48)*1000W.m-1 K-1 ). It is also the best conductor of electicity with an electron mobilityof more than 15,000cm2 V-1 s-1 . Other notable properties of graphene are its unique levels of light absorption and its potential suitability for use in spin transport.

== PRODUCTION ==

It can be produced on very thin pieces of metal or other arbitrary surfaces (of tens of nanometre thick) using chemical vapour disposition at low temperatures and thenm separated in a way that can control such impurities as ripples, doping levels and domain size whilst also controlling the number and relative crystallographic orientation of the graphene layers. The first time graphene was produced scientists literally took a piece of graphite and dissected it layer by layer until only a single layer remained and this process is known as mechanical exfoilation.

== APPLICATIONS ==

Bioengineering will certainly be a field where graphene will play a vital role once its biocompatibilty is tested. It could make a good candidate for the development of fast and efficient bioelectric sensory devices, with the ability to monitor things like glucose levels, haemoglobin levels, cholesterol and even DNA sequencing. Eventually we may even see engineered "toxic" graphene that can be used as an antibiotic or for anticancer treatment. Also due to its molecular make-up and potentail biocompatibility, it could be utilised in the process of tissue regeneration.Graphene is commercially used in the field of optoelectronics- specifically touchscreens, LCDs and OLEDs. In fact in the potential real world electronic applications we can eventually expect to see such devices as graphene based e-paper.Another standout property of graphene is that while it alllows water to pass through it, it is almost completely impervious to liquids and gases and hence can be used for ultrafiltration.The composition of graphene makes it apt for high strength requirements in military and aviation departments.It can also revolutionarize the field of energy storage and production.Being able to create supercapacitors out of graphene will possibly be the largest step in electronic engineering in avery long time.

What this means is that this discovery, made by a physics professor and his PhD student in a lab using a piece of graphite and some scotch tape has completely changed the way we look at potential limits of our abilities as scientists, engineers and inventors. The possibilities of what we can achieve with the materials and knowledge we have, have been blown open.