Graphene – the perfect atomic lattice
Graphene is an allotrope (form) of carbon. In its purest form, it is a single layer of carbon packed in a hexagonal (honeycomb) lattice, with a carbon-carbon distance of 0.142 nm and a thickness of 0.335 nanometers. The first truly two-dimensional crystalline material, Graphene possesses a number of unique properties, including those listed below. These characteristics make Graphene an exciting area for theoretical and practical research, and explain why Graphene has been called a “wonder material” for the 21st Century.
Theoretical physical properties of Graphene:
- Specific surface area: 2630 m² g-1
- High thermal conductivity: ~ 5000 W/m·K
- High optical transmittance: ~ 97.7%
- High intrinsic carrier mobility: 200000 cm 2 v − 1 s – 1
- Low Resistivity: 10-6Ω·cm
- High Young’s modulus: ~ 1.0 TPa
Applications
Graphene is an extremely thin, high mechanical strength, transparent and flexible conductor. In view of these unique properties, Graphene promises to enable groundbreaking advances across a wide range of applications, including but not limited to use in:
Green Energy
Touch Screen
Supercapacitors
Biomedical
Semiconductors
Wearable Technology
Conductive Ink
RFID