Australian researchers have discovered a cheap and simple way to make sheets of carbon just one atom thick.
Their finding has implications for a range of developments from solar cells to bionic ears.
when separated, graphene sheets have extraordinary electronic, thermal and mechanical characteristics, says Professor Gordon Wallace from the
University of Wollongong.
"People have known that if you can separate sheets of graphene from graphite you can get some pretty interesting properties,"
The sheets, known as graphene, normally stack together to make the kind of graphite used in pencils.
the journal
Nature Nanotechnology this week, Professor Wallace's team shows stopping the sheets from aggregating is actually a fairly simple matter
they used water with some ammonia added to increase its pH value, making it more alkaline
Increasing the pH of the water raises the electrostatic charge on the graphene sheets,
making sure they repel one another instead of clumping together.
clipped from: www.abc.net.au 