Are you interested in graphene for sale? It is truly a material that can find its application in a range of different industries – perhaps even yours. Its uses may be more versatile than you know and both researchers and industries stand to benefit from it. If you wish to know about graphene, then this article is meant for you!
Graphene for sale – acquaint yourself with this material before buying
Graphene is, to put it in simple terms, a form of carbon, in which the individual atoms are arranged in a single layer in a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice, resembling a honeycomb structure. The graphene sheet is therefore only one atom thick, almost transparent sheet. Thanks to the strong, symmetric atom bonds, it is, however, remarkably strong – 200 times stronger than steel, in fact, while being just 6 times lighter. But that is not all this material has to offer – in fact, it is just the beginning. Did you know that:
- A graphene sheet is transparent and extremely light-permeable, and does, in fact, absorb just 2,3 % of light and lets the rest pass through.
- Though it is light-permeable, it is otherwise quite impervious – for example, it does not let even the lighter gasses pass through a single sheet – not even hydrogen or helium.
- It is highly conductive to both heat and electricity
- It is highly resistant to chemicals
- It has a high surface area
- Its stiffness is comparable to that of a diamond
Just based on these properties alone, graphene can find a myriad of uses in multiple industries, and the graphene sheets can act as building blocks for other graphitic materials, such as carbon nanotubes or fullerenes, which we will discuss next.
Carbon nanotubes and nanofibers made out of graphene are a remarkably versatile tool
If you roll a sheet of graphene into a perfect cylinder, you’ll get the so-called carbon nanotube. The nanotube might be rolled into a single-wall, and there is also the possibility of creating multiwalled nanotubes by inserting several single-walled nanotubes into each other in the “Russian doll” fashion.
Carbon nanofibers, on the other hand, are also made out of graphene, but instead of cylinders, they are shaped into cones, cups or plates.
Either way, both nanotubes, nanofibers and simple graphene sheets are incredibly useful in countless fields of both industry and research. They can be used for example in:
- Membranes. We’ve already mentioned graphene’s impermeability – even a single sheet can hold off the majority of liquids and gasses. Individual defects in the sheet’s structure, however, can allow for the selective passage of certain gasses and liquids, which does not have to be a downside at all. Put into use this way, graphene membranes can serve as gas barriers, in water purification and desalination and many other spheres. Watch more about graphene membranes in this video.
- Electronic parts. Graphene’s conductivity has already been mentioned. It can be put to use for example in flexible, foldable electric devices, in transistors, printable electronics, as transistors, and much more. This article deals with the possibilities of the use of graphene in the area of electronics.
- Biomedicine. The uses are varied, ranging from cancer treatment to bionics to prosthetics.
- Composites and coatings. Corrosion protection, lightweight composites, lubricants and hydrophobic coatings and much more.
- Energetics. Most notably solar power cells, but also supercapacitors, batteries, electrodes & more.
To sum it up…
Graphene is perhaps poised to become the material of the future. Its versatile properties and uses may make it as ubiquitous as plastic in the not too distant future!
Are you interested in buying graphene? What prompted you to do so? Research or business purposes? What made you interested in graphene in the first place? Leave a comment in the comment section!