Is graphene a miracle material? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is graphene a miracle material?

#51

Post by hugh3 » Sun, May 22, 2011, 3:28 PM UTC

geon wrote: post #48

hugh3 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A sheet of graphene is one atomic layer thick. It's very easy to tear apart or pierce with any macroscopic object.

A "sheet" doesn't neccesarily refer to the molecular structure. In this contex, it would mean several layers composited together.

Several layers of graphene put together is graphite, and it's pretty non-magical.

Re: Is graphene a miracle material?

#52

Post by Unseelie » Sun, May 22, 2011, 3:31 PM UTC

hugh3 wrote: post #43

SeoxyS wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the sheet of graphene can't be pierced, it would protect from the most common mild injury in motorcycle accidents: road rash. (Right?) It'd prevent direct contact with the road, it'd prevent your clothing being ripped off and your skin being turned into ground meat. Not that I really know what I'm talking about, but that was my line of thinking…

A sheet of graphene is one atomic layer thick. It's very easy to tear apart or pierce with any macroscopic object.

The article is talking about a 'sheet', in the colloquial sense of the word, of the thickness of a piece of cling wrap.

Re: Is graphene a miracle material?

#53

Post by Symmetry » Sun, May 22, 2011, 4:01 PM UTC

CognitiveLens wrote: post #9

If IBM can make a 150 GHz graphene transistor, why does Dr Phaedon Avouris, of IBM, say that it cannot replace silicon? Isn't clock frequency a measure of the transistor's ability to turn on and off quickly?

Making integrated devices out of graphene is problematic for all the reasons the other responses have pointed off, but it might prove a workable alternative eventually - well after Moore's law has run out in silicon due to atomic size issues.