From ImpactLab.net: ...As the poster child for the emerging new super materials industry,
graphene is a form of ultra thin carbon just one atom thick. If you can
imagine something a million times thinner than a single sheet of paper,
you get the picture.
Despite this, graphene is also one of the strongest materials in the
known universe. With a tensile strength of 130 GPa (gigapascals), it is
more than 100 times stronger than steel.
Graphene is now 15 years old, and even though most of the progress
has happen below the radar, the progress has indeed been stunning...
...Two Major Breakthroughs
Two particularly noteworthy developments have the potential to cause graphene to explode into a host of new industries.
First, researchers at the University of Cambridge have figured out
how to unlock graphene’s superconductor properties by coupling it with a
material called praseodymium cerium copper oxide (PCCO).
Yes, superconductors are already in existence and are being used in
other applications, but this breakthrough shows that graphene is the
only one that works at room temperature.
Second, physicists at Kansas State University have discovered a way
to mass-produce graphene using a simple explosion process involving
hydrocarbon gas, oxygen and a spark plug.
The resulting detonation creates a 3,000 degree K temperature inside
the vessel, enough to create pure graphene stacked in single, double or
triple sheets. KSU researchers are now working to improve the quality of
the graphene and scale it up to industrial levels...
Full article: http://www.impactlab.net/2017/04/15/how-graphene-is-going-to-transform-the-way-we-get-power/
