Surely you have ever heard of graphene on numerous occasions. It is a type of material that has many applications since it has a large number of properties. With the evolution of technology, alternatives have been sought to create more sophisticated and efficient materials with a lower production cost.
In this article we are going to tell you all the characteristics, properties, uses and curiosities of graphene.
What is graphene
It is a type of material that is composed of the grouping of various carbon atoms that are positioned together giving a hexagonal shape. The arrangement of the atoms forms a monolayer that is only one atom thick. It is found constantly and abundantly in nature in the form of graphite. The human being used the graphite of common form in the pencils. One millimeter of graphite it is capable of containing 3 million layers of graphene.
Graphene properties
We have commented that it has numerous applications today. And it is a substance that has very interesting properties. These properties are joined by the abundance of carbon in nature. This makes graphene a material with great useful possibilities and is widely studied by the scientific community. We are going to highlight what are the main properties of graphene:
- High thermal conductivity: Helps conduct heat between materials and optimize energy transfer.
- High electrical conductivity: It also serves to establish electrical circuits since it conducts electricity very well.
- Greater amount of elasticity and flexibility: As it has these properties, it is a material that is quite moldable and adaptable to different situations.
- High hardness: this capacity gives it great resistance.
- High resistance: it is about 200 times stronger than steel. It has a resistance similar to that of diamond, but with a much lighter weight.
- It is not affected by ionizing radiation.
- It is capable of generating electricity by exposing it to sunlight for a time.
- It is a transparent material
- Its high density it does not let the helium atoms pass, but it does allow the passage of water that can evaporate at the same speed as it would be in an open container.
- Has an antibacterial effect: the material and its composition do not allow bacteria to grow on its surface.
- Generates heating by conducting electrons- This is a property that you can drive by and on electricity.
- Consume low amount of electricity if we compare it with other compounds: this can lead to great savings in the long term.
Applications
Due to all the properties that we have pointed out, we know that graphene has a great applicability in numerous industrial and technological sectors. In the field of electronics it is used in the manufacture of transistors, microchips, development of conductive inks, etc. In the field of renewable energy can enhance its use as it is in solar energy. And it is that we can introduce graphene into solar panels to be able to increase their efficiency when it comes to producing a greater amount of energy.
Another sector in which graphene is used is in the automotive sector. It can be used in batteries to increase autonomy and reduce charging times. In this way, we improve the performance of electric cars.
Graphene batteries
This material is 100 times stronger than steel. The density it has is very similar to carbon fiber. The advantage it has over it is that it weighs 5 times less than aluminum. It has a two-dimensional crystal with unique properties that makes it easy to synthesize in different ways. This makes it easily adaptable to different situations and molds where to insert them to work in various electronic devices.
Graphene batteries are those that promise a longer life, better performance and a lower price. They also stand out for suffering less impact over time, so they have a much longer useful life than normal.
The advantage they offer over other common batteries is that they allow working at higher temperatures, making it a perfect solution to improve the useful life of electric car batteries. This adds an additional advantage of making the electric car not charging all night since it has enough capacity not to waste energy during the trip.
In terms of cost, they offer various possibilities for a fairly competitive price in the market. They are even cheaper than other common batteries that we find today in the markets. If we analyze the advantage they offer of making If you need to charge the electric vehicle during the night, we see that in the long term it represents a quite significant saving.
Advantages and disadvantages
We are going to point out what are the advantages and disadvantages of graphene with respect to other materials. These are its main advantages:
- With its large properties and multiple we can perform almost all kinds of applications more efficiently.
- Since its hardness is high, we have a longer life than steel despite having an elastic and flexible consistency.
- By being able to conduct electricity and temperature it is derived in numerous uses.
- A graphene battery It is capable of charging a mobile phone battery in just 5 minutes.
- It can serve as a medicine against cancer.
Among the drawbacks that this material has, we are going to summarize some of the most notable ones:
- Although researchers are trying to figure out what all the potential uses for graphene are, Not all practice get the most out of it. This is one of the reasons why there are no commercial applications for this type of material yet. It is just a kind of temporary inconvenience.
- Commercial applications: this point is derived from the previous one. Although there are more than 60.000 scientific articles that study this material, there are no commercial products that are made with graphene.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about graphene, its properties and its uses.