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World's First Single-Atom-Thick Fabric

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the barely-there dept.

neutron_p writes "Researchers at The University of Manchester have made the world's first single-atom-thick fabric, which reveals the existence of a new class of materials and may lead to computers made from a single molecule. They call it graphene, because it's 'webbed' by extraction of individual planes of carbon atoms from graphite crystal. The nanofabric belongs to the family of fullerene molecules, which were discovered during the last two decades, but is the first two-dimensional fullerene."

18 of 390 comments (clear)

  1. Can it cut things? by CoreyGH · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Seriously, does this mean the edge of the fabric is really sharp? Can it cut through stuff?

    1. Re:Can it cut things? by Amiga+Lover · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I want to know, if you had a sheet of this stuff about 1cm by 1cm... could you see it? does light permeate it? refract off it in rainbows?

    2. Re:Can it cut things? by Dancin_Santa · · Score: 5, Informative

      Since it is only one type of molecule and only one molecule thick, the refractive index of the material would be constant. So if it had any color at all, it would be a constant color, not a rainbow like oil or a prism produces.

    3. Re:Can it cut things? by k98sven · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Seriously, does this mean the edge of the fabric is really sharp? Can it cut through stuff?

      Nope. It's not rigid.

      But.. if you could add a layer on top of that layer, juxtaposed by the minimal amount (half of a ring, see this picture of graphite crystal structure), and then add another layer, and another..

      Then you could form a 'perfectly sharp' knife.

      I'm not sure how durable it'd be though, because the inter-layer bonds in graphite are rather weak.

    4. Re:Can it cut things? by gardyloo · · Score: 5, Informative

      Except glass (usually) has a constant index of refraction (as does bubble film, which you're apparently thinking of). It's the fact that there is chromatic dispersion (simply: different frequencies of light--the colors--travel at different speeds in the medium (giving different refraction angles, and, therefore, different paths and pathlengths). So even though the index of refracton is constant for a _given_frequency_, the fact that the index changes for different frequencies gives the colors (along with multiple reflections from front and back surfaces).

      The fact that this stuff is only one molecule thick is much more persuasive. In fact, very thin bubbles are completely transparent to light, because the light cannot refract if the film is less than about a wavelength thick. Since molecules (chains and polymers get a little tricky, of course) are generally much, much smaller than a visible wavelength, this stuff will probably be virtually invisible, unless, as another poster pointed out, it's extremely highly conductive (which would cause a skin-depth effect and probably do more complicated things to light).

  2. Whoo Hoo! by I+am+the+Bullgod · · Score: 5, Funny

    J-Lo has already commissioned a dress made out of the stuff for the Oscars.

    1. Re:Whoo Hoo! by ThetaKestrel · · Score: 5, Funny

      I was gonna reply, "But they can only make a couple square microns of it!" - and then I realized, that's the point ;)

    2. Re:Whoo Hoo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
      Yeah, she wants to cover her brain with it

  3. Reminds me of Seinfeld by HonkyLips · · Score: 5, Funny

    Kramer: I've cut slices so thin, I couldn't even see them.
    Elaine: How'd you know you cut it?
    Kramer: I guess I just assumed...

    --
    Putting syrup in coffee is some form of blasphemy.
  4. Would someone be allergic to it? by Dancin_Santa · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Something that small and fine could possibly become airborne and eventually irritate allergic responses.

    Not to mention that consumption of the material could lead to carcinogenic effects.

    Before we start throwing around phrases like "wonder material" and "the future is now", perhaps we should take a closer look at the health risks involved in making/using these practically invisible materials.

    1. Re:Would someone be allergic to it? by CrazyGringo · · Score: 5, Funny
      First off, fullerenes are strong enough to build a space-elevator with, I don't think they'll come apart so easy.

      Secondly, if you are eating fabric on a regular basis, cancer risk might be the least of your problems.

    2. Re:Would someone be allergic to it? by I+am+the+Bullgod · · Score: 5, Informative

      Don't get thrown off by the term "fabric". If you read the article, you'll realize that the applications of this are mainly in integrated circuit fabrication. As far as the health and environmental issues, we're talking about a pure carbon lattice. With this process carbon can act as a semiconductor without dopants such as arsenic, so C-based semiconductors are actually "greener" than current silicon-based chips.

    3. Re:Would someone be allergic to it? by Sir+Holo · · Score: 5, Interesting


      Something that small and fine could possibly become airborne and eventually irritate allergic responses.

      Nah, it has to be micron-scale (1000x larger) for your lungs to recognize it as foreign, and eject it. Like it does with dust.

      Not that that's a good thing. People get asbestosis and silicosis for just this reason. Sharp particles that are beneath detection become embedded. And if they aren't broken down and stay sharp, they cut, cut, cut at the cellular level for the rest of your life.

      As for graphene becoming airborne, lodging in the lungs, and never breaking down, who knows?

    4. Re:Would someone be allergic to it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
      Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullerene , especially the "Possible dangers" section.
      An experiment by Eva Obersdörster at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas which introduced fullerenes into water at concentrations of 0.5 parts per million found that largemouth bass suffered a "17-fold increase in cellular damage in the brain tissue" after 48 hours. The damage was of the type lipid peroxidation, which is known to impair the functioning of cell membranes. There were also inflammatory changes in the liver and activation of genes related to the making of repair enzymes.
    5. Re:Would someone be allergic to it? by uncoolcentral · · Score: 5, Informative
      Um, no, actually, dander is bits of skin.

      Look it up.

      People are allergic to either the dander, saliva or urine of cats.

      sure sure, off-topic, but correct ;)

  5. Neato by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hope they can make condoms out of this stuff.

  6. CONDOMS ! ! ! by weighn · · Score: 5, Funny
    I can hear the advertising slogan already.

    you wont know you're wearing it.
    And if you're a truely a geek, she wont know you're in it.

    --
    Mongrel News all the news that fits and froths
  7. The Emperor's New Clothes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That Hans Christian Andersen was so far ahead of his time he wrote about this graphene stuff hundreds of years ago.