Is this the stuff Oolite spaceships would be made of?

[DaddyHoggy]

I copied the text from the physicsweb site (as you need to be a member to read it)

Jul 17, 2008
Graphene has record-breaking strength

Graphene is the strongest material in the world, according to new experiments done by researchers at Columbia University in the US. The secret to the material's extraordinary strength, says the team, lies in the robustness of the covalent carbon-carbon bond and the fact that the graphene monolayers tested were defect-free.

Since "wonder material" graphene - sheets of carbon just one atom thick - was discovered in 2004, it has been shown to be an extremely good electrical conductor; a semiconductor that can be used to create transistors; and a very strong material. But now, Columbia University's James Hone, Jeffrey Kysar, Changgu Lee and Xiaoding Wei have shown that it is the strongest material ever (Science 321 385).

The researchers measured the intrinsic strength of the material — that is the maximum stress that a pristine (or defect-free) material can withstand just before all the atoms in a given cross-section are pulled apart at the same time. Essentially all materials contain defects, such as microscopic cracks or scratches, which are "weaker" than surrounding material. As a result, the breaking stress of a macroscopic material depends mainly upon the number and sizes of defects it contains, rather than its intrinsic strength.

The researchers began by exfoliating individual atomic layers of graphene from a graphite source using transparent sticky tape — the most popular way of preparing monolayer graphene. Next, they placed the graphene flakes over a series of holes on a silicon wafer - rather like placing plastic cling film over a tiny "muffin tin". Each hole measured either 1.0 or 1.5 µm across.

"Each graphene film is like a small drum," explained Kysar, "except that the drumhead is only one atomic layer thick." The team then indented the graphene film using an atomic force microscope with a diamond tip that has a radius of about 20 nm. It was necessary to use a diamond tip because conventional silicon tips would break before the graphene breaks.

The force-displacement response of the monolayer graphene films allowed the scientists to determine the elastic properties of the graphene film. The force at which the film breaks and the statistical distribution of the breaking force of many films allowed them to calculate the intrinsic strength of graphene.

"The stiffness of graphene is literally 'off the chart' when compared to other classes of material," Hone told physicsworld.com. "This is thanks to both the covalent carbon-carbon bonds in graphene as well as the absence of any defects in the highest stressed portion of the graphene films."

The graphene monolayers used in the experiments are defect-free because they are so small, something that precludes the existence of flaws — a condition that cannot be satisfied in macroscopic materials. Given the known robustness of the covalent carbon-carbon bond (that also gives carbon fibres used in high-performance composites their remarkable stiffness and strength), it is not unreasonable to claim that pristine graphene is the strongest material," said Kysar.
Upper bound on strength

The new result will also serve as an experimental 'benchmark' James Hone, Columbia University

"The intrinsic strength of graphene can be considered as an 'upper bound' for the strength of materials — rather like diamond is for hardness — that could serve as a goal for engineers who design materials," added Hone. "The new result will also serve as an experimental 'benchmark' to validate various theories and computer models that predict the elastic properties of materials at very high strains."

"To put things in perspective: if a sheet of cling film (which typically has a thickness of around 100 µm) were to have the same strength as pristine graphene, it would require a force of over 20,000 N to puncture it with a pencil," he explained. "That is the force exerted by a mass of 2000 kg, or a large car!"

The team is now performing more experiments to determine the friction properties of freestanding monolayer graphene, as well as quantifying the van der Waals forces between the graphene and underlying substrates.

[TGHC]

Someone should use it in robot wars!

[Lestradae]

Could the cable for a space elevator be made if one used flawless graphene for it?

[JohnnyBoy]

I copied the text from the physicsweb site (as you need to be a member to read it)

I found a more 'open' source....
http://technology.newscientist.com/chan ... ecord.html

[DaddyHoggy]

Cheers JB

@Lestradae - it is the ideal material for a space elevator cable - its estimated that it would only need to be about 1cm thick - NASA is genuinely investigating its potential (if I find link to study I will post)

[Lestradae]

it is the ideal material for a space elevator cable - its estimated that it would only need to be about 1cm thick - NASA is genuinely investigating its potential (if I find link to study I will post)

That`s something

A material that can be mass-produced for a space elevator would change everything, and I mean everything!

The costs of getting into geostationary orbit would not be much higher than a plane flight today around half the planet - in other words, affordable to the middle class in developed countries

And, if you are in geostationary orbit, you are halfway to the rest of the solar system.

There`s hope, energy, resources, plenty ... and reachable for the majority.

Please post the link if you find it!

Cheers

L

[DaddyHoggy]

A space elevator - yours for just £245M - which is actually stupidly cheap!

Space elevator

Any chance of somebody doing one as an OXP!?

[JohnnyBoy]

A balloon made from graphene...

http://technology.newscientist.com/chan ... lated.html

[DaddyHoggy]

Nicely spotted JB!

I just love graphene!

I used to play at the other end - firing neutrons into buckyballs interspersed with other atoms (such as potassium) to test its atomic properties (we were looking for "high temperature" basis for superconductors C60-K looked promising (but that was back in 1992 and I don't know how much the field has moved on since))

[Killer Wolf]

i love the fact that all this hi-tech research is done w/ sticky tape

[DaddyHoggy]

@KW - when I worked at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory - I used to cover my light guides in a thin layer of Titanium Dioxide - or in lay man's terms - I used to paint them with Tippex*


*Other brands of correction fluid were available for experimentation - although Tippex was the best and the most resistant to Neutron absorption

[Thargoid]

And back in my PhD days, most of our experiments were help together by dental floss and duct tape...

[DaddyHoggy]

If only the "public" knew - would they be shocked or "thought as much"?

[Captain Hesperus]

If only the "public" knew - would they be shocked or "thought as much"?

Well, my plutonium enrichment palnt uses blu-tack for radiation shielding.
....Errr, wait. Forget I mentioned anything about plutonium....

Captain Hesperus

[DaddyHoggy]

palnt? You have a plutonium enrichment palnt?! Will you need to upgrade to dvbvista at some point, to stay compatible with other take-over-the-world- devices?