TheMagicofGraphene:WhatItIs,HowItIsMade,andWhatItCanDo

Preparedfor:

Preparedby:

Mrs.DedePaquette,Comm.ArtsTeacher
HamiltonHighSchool
MichelleBader
HamiltonHighSchool

May13th,2015

Abstract
TheMagicofGraphene:WhatItIs,HowItIsMade,andWhatItCanDo
Preparedby:

MichelleBader
HamiltonHighSchool

Grapheneisasinglelayersheetofcarbonatomsthathaveextraordinarypropertiesthatarevery
valuabletocompaniesandresearchersalike.Thispaperwillcoverthebackgroundofthehistoryof
grapheneandwhatgrapheneis.Itwillalsoexploremanyofthedifferentpropertiesofgraphenethatmake
itasupermaterial.Thepurposeofthisreportistoeducatethepublicaboutwhatgrapheneis,andhowit
isbeingusedinthepresentandfuture.Theresultssectionwillexplorethemethodsofmakinggraphene,
theproblemsthattheprocesseshavebeenfacing,andasampleofthetechnologythatisbeingproduced.
Theinventionsareseparatedbythefieldofsciencetheywouldaffectthemost:energy,bioapplications,
aerospace,vehicles,etc.Grapheneisaninnovativematerialthatwillsoonbecomecommonknowledgeto
thepublicbecauseofitsfastgrowingadvancementsintheknowledgeofhowtomakeitandwhatcanbe
madewithit.

TableofContents
Abstract:................................................................................................................................................1
TableofContents:.................................................................................................................................2
Introduction:.......................................................................................................................................35
Methods:...............................................................................................................................................5
Results:.............................................................................................................................................610
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................1011
Bibliography:.......................................................................................................................................12

Introduction
Everyoneisfamiliarwiththedarkgreyandkindagreasymineralthatisusedincommontoolsand
technologylikelubricants,batteries,andpencils.Despitegraphitebeingsuchausefulmaterialthatare
manygraphitedepositsleftuntouchedthroughouttheworld.Thatstatusmayallchangeinthefutureand
becomeaveryvaluableoreinthefuturewhengraphenecomesonthescene(Collis,2014).Notmany
individualsknowaboutgrapheneeventhoughinthefutureitmaybecomeaveryimportantresource.This
paperwillcoverthebackgroundofthehistoryofgrapheneandwhatgrapheneisinthisintroduction.It
willalsoexploreallthedifferentpropertiesofgraphenethatmakeitasupermaterial.Thepurposeof
thisreportistoeducatethepublicaboutwhatgrapheneis,andhowitisbeingusedinthepresentand
future.
Thisnewmaterialtomoderntechnology,graphene,isverydifferentfromitspredecessorgraphite
(Hall,Amaterial,2015).In2002,AndreGeimandKonstantinNovoselovfromManchester
University(Vuong,2015)usedtheScotchtapemethod(Hall,Amaterial,2015)whichconsistsofusing
tapetopeelawaythelayersofgraphiteuntilonelayerisleft.Thelayerscomeaparteasilyfromone
anotherbecausethesetrillionsoflayersareheldtogetherbyveryweakforcesbetweenthelayers.Thisis
seenineverydaylifebythegraphiteresidueleftbehindwhenapencilscrapesacrossapage.Onelayerof
thatresidueisknownasgrapheneandhasbeenknownbyscientistsintheorylongbeforeitwasever
createdinthelab(Hall,Amaterial,2015).Thetworesearchers,GeimandNovoselov,earnedaNobel
prizeinphysicsin2010fortheirdiscoveriesofthematerialitselfandtheexplorationofitsproperties
(Collis,2014)(Blau,2013).
Thesealmostunrealpropertiescomefromthefactthatgrapheneiscomposedofcarbonandis
onlyoneatomthick.Itisknowasthethinnestcompoundknowntoman(Vuong,2015)becauseisis
basicallytwodimensional(Collis,2014)becausethereisnothingthinnerthananatom.Concequentlyitis
transparentbecauseatathicknessoflessthanonemillionthofamillimetre,itcanonlybevisualizedusing
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powerful,atomicforcemicroscopes(Hall,Amaterial,2015).Alongwithitsdisappearingact,graphene
iscompletelyimpermeabilitytoanygases(Novoselov,2012)andalsoholdsthetitleoftheworld'smost
impermeablematerial.Eventhoughitisonelayerthickithasthepropertiestostopwater,gases,and
otherliquidsfrompassingthrough(Hall,Canyoursupermaterialdothis?,2015).Graphenehascountless
propertiesthatmakethenewmaterialveryapplicablefornewtechnologiesincludinghavingthermal,
anticorrosive,andelectronicproperties(Hall,Amaterial,2015),inadditionwithbeingreadilychemically
functionalized,andhavingasurprisingamountofelasticity(Novoselov,2012)(Daniel,2015).
Additionallyitislikeitspredecessor,graphite,inthewayitisanexcellentlubricantandcancreate
slipperysurfacesonanyproductitmightcover(Hall,Canyoursupermaterialdothis?,2015).Thisisan
importantqualityformechanicsthatcantusealiquidlubricant.
Despitebeingmuchlighterthanafeather(Blau,2013)(Collis,2014)(Novoselov,2012),graphene
isatleastdozensoftimesstrongerthansteelandalsoholdstheprizeforthestrongestmaterialonearthby
weight(Hall,Amaterial,2015).Thematerialissounbreakablebecauseofthelatticelikelayerofthe
configurationofthecarbonatoms(Collis,2014).Thislayoutoftheatomsissimilartothatofaspider
webwhichisalsostrongerthatmostpeoplewouldbelieve.Thedownfallcomesfromthefactthespider
webandthesheetsofgraphenearesothinthattheyarenotabletofunctioninthesamewaythatsteelcan,
forexample,beingabletosupportbuildings.Scientistsareabletoovercomethisobstaclebycombining
graphenewithothermaterialsorcreatingagraphenecoatingtotransferoversomeofgraphenesunique
characteristics(Hall,Amaterial,2015).
Equallyimportant,graphenehaspropertiesofconductivitycapacitytoconductelectricity,which
is1,000timesgreaterthanthatofcopper(Hall,Canyoursupermaterialdothis?,2015)(Blau,2013)andis
lessenergydemanding(Collis,2014)(Daniel,2015).Thisveryhighelectricalandthermalconductivity
allowforawiderangeoftechnologicalapplicationswithitsabilitytosustainextremelyhighdensitiesof
electriccurrent(amilliontimesmorethancopper)(Novoselov,2012).Researchallovertheworldisbeing

conductedtomovegrapheneoutofthelabsothatthemicroflakesthatarebeingcreatedcanbeexpanded
intosheetsthatcouldrevolutionizeinventionsandchangetheworldwithitsmoreusablesize(Blau,
2013).
Inconductingresearch,IsearchonthedatabasesMasterFILEPrimerandSIRSandfoundarticles
andstudiesconductedaboutgrapheneanditscharacteristics.Thearticlesandstudiesalsoprovided
informationaboutthedifferentmethodsusedtocreategrapheneandasmallsampleofthecopiousamount
ofinventionsandtechnologiesbeingcreatedinthelastcoupleofyears.Ifocusedmyresearchonsomeof
themorestraightforwardinventionsthatthegeneralpublicmightcomeincontactwithinthefuture,not
thetechnologythatonlyascientistinthefieldwouldinteractwithandbeaffectedby.Theresultssection
willexplorethemethodsofmakinggraphene,theproblemsthattheprocesseshavebeenfacing,anda
sampleofthetechnologythatisbeingproduced.Thefollowingsectionsprovideadditionaldetailabout
themethodsofmyresearch,theresultsIobtained,andtheconclusionsIdrewfrommyresearch.
Significantfindings:
Graphenehasuniquepropertiesthatmakeitavaluableandhighlyusablematerial.
Grapheneisabletobeincorporatedintoinventionsfromalldifferentfieldsofscienceand
technologyincluding:energy,bioapplications,aerospace,automobiles,etc.

Methods
InconductingmyresearchIcompletedthefollowingtasks:
IsearchedforarticlesonthedatabasesMasterFILEPrimerandSIRSusingthekeywords:
graphene,technology.
Itooknotesontherelevantinformationthatiseasilyunderstandablebythegeneralpublic.
Iorganizedmyinformationbytopicandcreatedanoutlinebeforewritingmyroughdraft.

Results

Aroundtheworldresearchersandscientistsalikearedevelopingdozensormoremethodstocreate
grapheneofvariousdimensions,shapes,andquality(Novoselov,2012)Themethodsarecategorizedby
thequalityofthegrapheneproducedandareusuallyjudgedbythepurityofthesheetofcarbonandby
howmanylayersofgraphenethereareinthefinalproduct(Novoselov,2012).Twoofthemostpopular
methods(buttherearemanyothersoutthere)arechemicalvapordepositionandtheScotchtapemethod
thatledtotheoriginaldiscovery(Novoselov,2012).
ResearchersatCaltechhavecreatedthreepatentssofarafteraccidentallydiscoveringanew
methodtoformgraphenein2012andpublishedthepaperin2015(Vuong,2015)thatexplainsan
improvedversionofthechemicalvapordepositionmethodfromanaccidentaldiscoverywhenascientist
wasattemptingtorecreateamethodfromascientificjournaltoproduceagraphenesample.Howeverthe
experimentwasntworking,sohelefttheroomandletitcookalittlelongerthanwasoriginallylaidoutin
theexperiment,andsomemethanegotin,ahydrocarbonthatleftcarboninitswake,andproducedalayer
ofgraphene(Vuong,2015).Theyplantokeepexpandingontheirfindingstodevelopasystemsothat
graphenecanbemadecommercially.Likewise,aresearchlabinCanada,Kingston,isworkingwiththe
chemicalvapordepositionmethodtocreategrapheneoutofcarbonladengasesthatbuildgrapheneon
surfacesunderastringentsetofchemicalandthermalconditions.Kingstonisalsoresearchingthe
capabilitiesofusingtheelasticityofgraphenetostretchsmallamountsofitasfarasitcangotomaximize
theamountofthesubstancethatcanbemadeperbatch.Scientistscanonlymakesmallamountsatatime,
sothismethodwillexpandthepotentialapplications.Theyhavetestedthatacubiccentimetreof
graphene,spreadoutinaoneatomthicklayer,couldcoveranareaametrewideandakilometrelong
(Hall,Amaterial,2015).Withthiskindofinnovationonthehorizon,thepossibilitiesofnewinventions
willbeendless,butnotwithoutsomeobstaclesalongtheway.
Theseprocessesandothershavemetdifficultiesduringtheirdiscoveriesonthequestforthemost
timeandcosteffectivewaytocommercializegraphene.Mostgrapheneisjudgedbasedonthequalityof

thesinglelayercreated,butsomegrapheneismadewithmorethanonelayer.Mostcompaniesand
productswouldprefertouseonlyonelayerofgrapheneratherthantwoorthreelayersbutthisformisstill
highlyusableinindustryandstillholdsmostofthevaluablepropertiesofthesinglelayerversion
(Novoselov,2012).Alongwiththemultiplelayerissue,unintentionaldoping(Novoselov,2012)isanother
problemthatchangesthequalityofthegraphene.Thismeansthatotherelementsotherthancarbonhave
infiltratedthestructureandlessenthescopeofitscharacteristics,ariskcreatorsencountereverytimethey
runanexperiment.ThisisalsothecasewhenusingtheScotchtapemethodwhenthereareimpuritiesin
theoriginalgraphitebeingpeeledawayandoftencreatedefectsinthefinishedproduct(Hall,Amaterial,
2015).Grapheneworksatitsgreatestpotentialwhenthereisonlyonelayerandispurecarbonatoms
becauseinordertobefullyfunctionalthelayersneedtobeseparatedandothermoleculesneedtobein
contactwiththeflatsurfacebetweeneachlayer(Collis,2014).
Thebigquestionforcompaniesstartingtousegrapheneis:howisitmade?Insomeofthe
methods,hightemperaturesarenecessarytomanifestthegraphene(Novoselov,2012).Forexampleone
oftheprocessesneedstoheatgrapheneto1800degreesfahrenheitfortheformationofthepragmatic
substance,buttheresearchersatCaltechsaythatthemethodtheyhavecreatedonlyneedstocookat842
degreesFahrenheit(Vuong,2015).Itisstillwaitingtobeseenifthisdiscoverywillbecomestandard
practiceorperhapsgiveinspirationforotherprocedurestobeengineeredinthefuture.Additionallythere
aresometimesmanystepstotheprocessesthatscientistshavebeenusinginthelabsandalongwaittime.
Consequently,alongwithindustrializinggraphene,muchoftheresearchisbeingputtowardslesseningthe
amountofstepsandbringingtheexperimenttimedowntoaminuteortwo(Vuong,2015).Oncethe
grapheneiscreateditisverydifficulttotransfertoothersubstancesespeciallyafterusingthechemical
vapordepositionmethod(Vuong,2015).Sofarscientistscanonlymakeasmallamountatatime,a
squaremillimeterstosquarecentimeter(Vuong,2015),andisbeingclosertobeingindustrialized.Once
thisispossiblecompanieswillbeabletostartusinggraphenetoaddstructuralstrengthtoproducts.This

makeslittlecommercialsenseatthemoment(Hall,Amaterial,2015)becausetheformationofgrapheneis
generallyconsideredanexpensiveprocesshowevercomparedtotheuseofpreciousmetalstoacquirethe
sameproperties,itischeap(Hall,Canyoursupermaterialdothis?,2015).
Mostoftheresearchthatisbeingconductedforgrapheneisgoingintwodirections:an
industrializationprocessandapplyingittonewtechnology.Onthesecondroad,grapheneisbeing
combinedwithmanydifferentsidesofsciencetomakedifferentandbettertechnologiesthatmakethe
presentlooklikeafuturisticworld.Inventionslikeflexibleelectronicsinclothing,bendablecomputer
screens,floppywristwatches,bettertouchscreens,androllableepaper(Blau,2013)(Novoselov,2012).
Andthatisonlythebeginningoftheendlessamountoftechnologythatisbeingengineeredusing
graphenewithinthelastcoupleofyears.Byincorporatinggrapheneintodifferenttypesofglass,scientists
havecreatedbetterwindowsthataremoreresistanttocracking(Vuong,2015)(Hall,Amaterial,2015),
andgraphenecoatedwindowswouldbevirtuallyselfcleaningandsmudgeproof(Hall,Canyour
supermaterialdothis?,2015).Thatreinforcedglasswouldalsokeepgasesfromescaping(Vuong,2015),
andwouldbeincrediblyrevolutionaryforspaceshipsandotherequipmentbeingsentintospace.When
grapheneiscombinedwithothermetalsandelementsitcreatescompositematerials.Graphenecouldbe
infusedintorecycledplasticsorothermaterialstocreatestrong,corrosionfreerebarorgirdersfor
buildingsandbridges(Hall,Amaterial,2015).Thevehicleandaircraftwouldbenefithighlyfrom
compositepaintsandcoatings(Novoselov,2012)thatwouldcreateananticorrosionagentonvulnerable
metalproductsandpreventrust.Ifgraphenewascombinedwiththecommonbuildingandvehicleframe
metalstheycouldbemorefunctionalandlightweight(Blau,2013)makingtheresultingplaneorcarmore
energyefficientbydecreasingthevehicle'sweightandboostingitsstrengthanddurability(Hall,A
material,2015).
Grapheneisheavilyinvolvedthetheenergydepartment.Graphenecoatedsolarpanels(Hall,Can
yoursupermaterialdothis?,2015)aremuchmoreefficient(Vuong,2015).Additionallygraphenewillbe

usedtodevelopmoreadvancedbatteries(Novoselov,2012)(Blau,2013)(Hall,Canyoursupermaterialdo
this?,2015)supercapacitors(Novoselov,2012)(Collis,2014),andsensorsthatareverysensitivetothe
environmentandwouldbeusedtomeasurestrain,pressure,magneticfield(Novoselov,2012).Likethe
gasproofglass,theresensorswillbeveryinfluentialinaerospaceandrockets.
Surprisingly,graphenecanalsobeappliedtothehumanbody.Mostoftheapplicationsmentioned
inthisreportdiscussgrapheneintegratedwithmetals,butdonotbealarmedhumansarenotturninginto
robots.Instead,scientistshavecreatedtinyrobotstobeplacedinsideofhumanstobeusedasfastand
ultrasensitivemeasurementdevices(Novoselov,2012).ForexampleattheUniversityofIllinoisChicago
theyhavedevelopedtheNanoElectroRoboticDevice,orNERD.Itiscreatedbyplacingonabacterial
sporetwo"quantumdots"madeofgraphenetobeusedasthesensor(Daniel,2015).Inadditionto
strengtheningfullscalebuildingmaterials,graphenecanalsostrengthenscaffoldmaterialsforinsidethe
body(Novoselov,2012).Thenewmaterialwouldhelpholduporgansandothertissuesthatareinthe
processofhealing,andcreatingthescaffoldwithagraphenecombinationwillmakethemstrongerand
lighter.Likewisegraphenewillbeincorporatedintotheengineeringofimprovedsyntheticnervecells,
tissueengineering(Collis,2014)(Novoselov,2012),artificialretinas,andopticaldevices(Blau,2013).Itis
stillunknownhowitreactswiththebody,toxiclevels,andhowlongitlasts(Novoselov,2012),but
researchonbioappliedgrapheneissignificantprogressintherightdirectionthatmayleadtolivesbeing
saved.
Becausegrapheneissorevolutionary,theworldhasstartedtotakeaspecialinterestinits
productionandexpansion.Manypeoplebelieveitsanewindustrialrevolutionandisgoingtoaffectthe
21stcenturythesamewayplasticinfluencedthe20thcentury(Blau,2013).Presentlythemarketisbeing
dominatedbyChina,theUS,andSouthKorea(Hall,Amaterial,2015).SamsungandSungkyunkwan
UniversityinKorea,ZhejiangUniversityinChinaandIBMintheU.S.weretheleadersinpatent
applications(Vuong,2015)andaccountforabout70%ofoftheover8400patentapplicationssubmitted

since2013(Hall,Amaterial,2015).Thetotalnumberofpatentshastripledinthelast18months(Vuong,
2015)andcontinuestogrow.TheUSdeclaregraphiteacriticalrawmaterialforthefuture(Collis,2014),
andtheEUhasputin5billioneurosintographene(Hall,Amaterial,2015)(CanadaNewsWire,2015)
overa10yearperiodbeginningin2013(Blau,2013).Chinasinterestingraphenehasskyrocketedinthe
lastcoupleofyearsandisproducing75%worldsgraphite(CanadaNewsWire,2015).Graphenemaybe
thenewraceininnovationbetweenthecountriesoftheworldintheyearstocome.
Conclusion
Theworldproductionofgraphiteis1.1milliontonsayearandispredictedtoincreasesixfoldin
theyearsahead(Collis,2014).Despitethislargeincreaseininterestinthematerial,mostpeoplehave
neverheardofitatall(Hall,Amaterial,2015).Basedontheresearchinrecentyearsandallthe
inventionsthatarepossiblewiththiswondermaterial,theexpectationisthattheusefulnessandcontinued
growthofgraphenewillmakeitahouseholdname.Graphenetechnologieswillchangetheworldinall
areasofscienceasdemonstratedbythewidearrayrepresentedintheresultssectionofthisreport.In
ordertocompensateforthelargeinfluxofgraphenetechnologies,theresearchtowardthe
commercializationofgraphenewillbecomemoreimportant.Thiswillespeciallybetrueincompanies
likeSamsungoverthenextcoupleofyears.Iftheyplantocreategrapheneproductsforconsumersthey
willneedtobeabletomakethematerialinbulkandatamuchcheapercost.Thoseproblemsmentioned
earlierwillhavemuchofthesecompaniesandorganizationsfundingputtowardinordertosolvethe
issuespresented.Thegrapheneproductswillnotbemassmarketableuntilthesehurdleshavebeen
surpassed.Oncethematerialisbeingimplementedintotechnologythatismorecommontothepublicin
thefuture,expectgraphenetobeacommonnamethatwillsweeptheworldandmoveeveryonecloserto
thefuturewedreamabout.

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