Graphene-the Material of the 21st Century

Graphene is a type of graphite mineral. Expertsoftencall it 'The Material of the 21st Century'because of its special properties.Some U.S.companies are already using graphene for newtechnology products.

Graphene is often described as aone-atom-thick layer of carbon. The material has some extraordinary properties.It is 100 times strongerthan steel of the same thickness. The nearlytransparent material also carries heat and electricityvery well.

Dan Scheffer is vice-president of themanufacturing company, Vorbeck Materials.

"This material has so many potentialapplications that you don't know where to start to look inthe beginning."

Mr. Scheffer says 100 percent pure grapheneis difficult to make. But he adds manufacturerscan make graphene of lesserpurity that still has many of the features of the pure version. Mr.Scheffersays his company produces a layer of graphene that is 80 percent pure.

Graphene can be mixed into ink for printers.Stretchable parts can be printed for products suchas antennas for radiofrequency identification circuits.

Louise Brooks is the manager of the productdevelopment team at Vorbeck Materials. She saysgraphene can even be used onwearable electronic clothing. She says the clothing can bewashed and dried in amachine without damaging the graphene.

The new material can also be used to makevery sensitive microphones. Ray Sauro is achemical engineer at VorbeckMaterials. He says a graphene membrane less than one micronthick can pick upvibrations that no other kind of membrane can.

"And, it has a working range of lessthan one hertz to 200,000 hertz. The human ear forexample can hear from about15 hertz to 20,000 hertz. So, way beyond anything you can hear."

The microphone picks up the sound from lightthat reflects off a vibrating graphenemembrane. This prevents any radio ormagnetic interference.

Mr. Sauro says graphene membranes can resistvibrations and heat. He adds that themembranes are not costly to manufacture.Mr. Sauro imagines the automotive industry willbe able to use graphene productsin vehicles to collect information about engine health. Hesays such productswould not cost more than $300.