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Graphene Spun Into Meter-Long Fibers
ananyo writes "Nano-sized flakes of graphene oxide can be spun into graphene fibers several meters long, researchers in China have shown. The strong, flexible fibers, which can be tied in knots or woven into conductive mats, could be the key to deploying graphene in real-world devices such as flexible batteries."
That's a big ass fiber.
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Are still high.... Give it a few years and it may be cheaper.
-- (this is a sig) My Computer Programming Forumhttp://www.programers.co.nr/
This has been a sticking point for a lot of uses.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Is the magic missing technology required to construct a functional space elevator?
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www.n1ywb.com
Sorry, but that's the first thing I think of when a new super material is described.
I can't think of any other technology that, barring a really huge breakthrough (like anti-gravity) would truly make space travel a practical reality for millions. Even Arthur C. Clarke in his "Fountains of Paradise" book alluded to this saying that the supposedly hyper-efficient rockets of the future would create so much environmental damage (pollution, sonic booms) that really heavy traffic couldn't be sustained.
Maybe if we had cold fusion (or something like it like muon catalyzed fusion or zero-point energy) space travel on a large scale would be practical but these "breakthroughs" might be just as far (or impossibly far!) away.
By the way, did anyone see the developments (at MIT?) where they showed a nano structured "tape" able to support the weight of a full grown man with only a few inches of surface area? And it was able to be re-used thousands of times before using its grip? Perhaps the space elevator could be made of material structured this way, I mean if that thing is ever going to be built it will essentially be a gigantic 23,000 mile long SINGLE MOLECULE anyway so nano structuring should be almost trivial!
To me, this suggests a couple more interesting applications:
Battery electrode
Supercapacitor dielectric
Chemical sensor
Nanofiltration
Lightweight structural blocks/foams (this is essentially a spun aerogel with a water solvent...)
Carbon wire (copper is expensive)
I am sure there are others.
Compared to airplane travel, would several hundred rocket launches a year really contribute that much more pollution?
The science is there, it's just a simple matter of engineering.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Carbon fiber, carbon nanotubes and graphene fiber are all different forms with different properties.
And tell me why we don't already have Gigawatt, Flying batteries Overlords ?
Darn, lazy scientists ! /., and not your gloosy, SCIENCE magazine
1 / Read
2 / SPEAK TO EACH OTHER, SU****RS !!!
3 / * ? *
4 / Profit
Stanford Researchers Invent Everlasting Battery Material 180
Research Promises Drastically Increased LiOn Capacity 378
Highly Efficient Oxygen Catalyst Found 156
Researchers Demonstrate Quantum Levitation 133
Superior Anode For Lithium-Ion Batteries Developed 77
Boosting Battery Storage With Seaweed 59
Polymer Gel Shows Promise For Smaller, Cheaper Batteries 108
Transparent Lithium-Ion Battery Created 91
Aluminum-Celmet Could Increase EV Range By 300% 182
MIT Develops Fast Charging Liquid Flow Batteries 135
Integrating Capacitors Into Car Frames 189
It takes 40+ muscles to frown, but only four to extend your arm and bitchslap the motherfucker
That's an overhand knot, not a square knot. If you want to join two like-sized ropes use the square knot; neither the overhand nor the figure-8 can do that.
You're right that the figure-8 is better than the overhand in most ways.
I RTFA. It actually mentions that the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology where this was done is actually in, who would have guessed it, South Korea! and not China.
Edit: damn you slashodot for no edit feature. The research was at both South Korea and Singapore, so china is almost but not quite correct.
my first thought was how soon will graphene yarn become available?
Interesting correlation! Maybe it also plays a role as to whether or planet is suitable for life, a lot weaker and we'd lose too much of our atmosphere to space. A lot stronger and we'd end up a gas giant. But these might be pretty broad limits.
However, once life gets started, I'm not sure that the strength of gravity is tied closely to the development of life (life evolved into quite complex forms in the oceans). As far as INTELLIGENT life, I also am not sure if there's any correlation. Perhaps our ancestors evolved exceedingly good hand eye manipulative skills while swinging from branch to branch; I'm not sure how making gravity weaker (or stronger!) would make this better or worse.
So, too bad we didn't evolve on an exo-moon like Titan (or "Pandora") where getting to space would be much easier (low gravity, dense atmosphere). Or too bad we didn't evolve on a world that was subject to lots of radiation from the local star (no magnetic field?), then nuclear rockets would be very appealing because we'd be immune to high levels of radiation!
The previous research related to graphene oxide liquid crystals were done by two separate teams. The advancement, spinning these crystals into threads, is done by the Chinese team.
Earlier this year, Xu and Gao were one of two research groups that published the first results showing graphene oxide liquid crystals.
"Carbon fibre is made by a high-temperature treatment. Our fibres are made just by spinning a water-based solution â" it is quite green and quite easy,"
We should make kink-springs out of this stuff, since gene-hacked algae can be dangerous if the tanks are contaminated.
I expect the effect of graphene on the human body to be similar to asbestos. So expect increased cancer rates, Asbestosis, and other health problems from people who work with it as a raw material.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Graphene oxide and graphene are two different materials. As different as iron and rust, particularly in electrical properties.
This deliberate misleading of people outside the field by nanotechnology researchers is a major problem and has been for several years.
RTFA. Graphene oxide is an intermediate stage. From the article: " A final chemical reduction treatment turns the long strings of graphene oxide back into graphene."
So the final product is definitely graphene.
That's only true if you think Canada and Mexico are 'almost' the USA.
This is my point exactly, the information simply does not exist, it's as if someone didn't even bother to look into the possibility. I'd rather the consequences were determined up front, instead of waiting for a few workers get injured or sick to provide evidence to support such an investigation. There is already quite a bit of question concerning the safety of Fullerenes (buckyballs, carbon nanotubes, etc). I would rather err on the side of caution, as an otherwise harmless material such as graphite, is manipulated into new and exciting forms. But how can you make an easy buck if you're cautious? It's more profitable to assume something is safe and ignore the possibilities.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Using a cable looped to the ground like a U with both vertical strings tied together at various points by guides and adequate counter weights so that if the cable breaks the top will be flung off into space by the centrifugal force and the bottom is funnelled down through the base, around and back up, that way both ends wind up being flung into space with little hazard to the ground. That way an accident, while being very expensive wouldn't be that hazardous