Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

MIT Discovers Way To Mass-Produce Graphene In Large Sheets (inhabitat.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the cheaper-by-the-dozen dept.

New submitter Paige.Bennett writes: Up till now, graphene has been produced in small batches in labs. But MIT just found a way to mass-produce graphene in large sheets using a process that rolls out five centimeters of graphene each minute. The longest span so far was nearly four hours, which produced about 10 meters of graphene. According to MIT, here's how their conveyor belt system works: "The first spool unfurls a long strip of copper foil, less than one centimeter wide. When it enters the furnace, the foil is fed through first one tube and then another, in a 'split-zone' design. While the foil rolls through the first tube, it heats up to a certain ideal temperature, at which point it is ready to roll through the second tube, where the scientists pump in a specified ratio of methane and hydrogen gas, which are deposited onto the heated foil to produce graphene." The work has been published in the journal Materials and Interfaces.

15 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Methane? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Impossible. Methane is an evil substance which must be banned from existence, before the capitalist pigs use it to destroy the world.

    1. Re:Methane? by RandomFactor · · Score: 2

      I think you mean capitalist cows?

      --
      --- Mercutio was right.
  2. Now, finally..... by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now, finally, we can manufacture it in large enough quantities to worry about environmental problems!

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  3. next step....carbonite by john+of+sparta · · Score: 2

    Hans down

  4. Rip VanWinkle called by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    So glad we could wait over 10 years for this. Now where's the transparent aluminum I was promised? Hello Computer!

    1. Re: Rip VanWinkle called by iggymanz · · Score: 3, Informative

      You can call either the ceramic AION(tm) which is used for bullet and blast resistant windows transparent aluminum, or clear synthetic sapphire which is even stronger than the AION if made by certain processes ( not the artificial gem processes though, they have high internal strain). That sapphire can be 17% stronger than the AION though I haven't seen windows of the stuff only huge balls

    2. Re:Rip VanWinkle called by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      Now where's the transparent aluminum I was promised? Hello Computer!

      It exists, stop whining.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    3. Re:Rip VanWinkle called by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 3, Informative

      There is no transparent Aluminium.

      Transparent aluminum, also known as aluminIum oxynitride, is a transparent polycrystalline ceramic with a cubic spinel crystal structure made of nitrogen, oxygen and aluminIum.

      I guess you can use every low atom wight metal to make a 'glass' ...

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  5. Is it useful? by Billy+the+Mountain · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Not sure how useful a graphene-copper composite is... Article doesn't describe any steps beyond depositing the graphene onto the copper.

    --
    That was the turning point of my life--I went from negative zero to positive zero.
  6. Re:Sheets is misleading by SNRatio · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If you want a square, go to Grolltex. Graphene sheets made by CVD on copper ... this actually does sound a lot like their process. https://grolltex.com/

  7. again? by Goldsmith · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm a nanotechnologist. Actually, I founded a graphene chip company that actually has a product and customers (Nanomedical Diagnostics).

    There are two companies that already produce graphene roll to roll like this (Samsung and Grolltex). Not surprisingly, there's not much of a market for it. There are far fewer people working on graphene applications than on developing the raw material.

    There are a few reasons for this. First, investment in commercialization of graphene applications is not popular (because market research is a necessary skill to pitch a product - not so much with a commodity). Second, devices and applications are just harder to make. Most people in my field don't want to work on the kinds of problems that are common in manufacturing (or if they do, they go work for Intel).

    The result of all this is that it's actually very easy for someone like me to grow my own graphene (growth tech and know-how is cheap), and it's very hard for a graphene growth company to demonstrate applicability (meeting real industrial cost or QA targets).

    In short, a third source of graphene of this type is not needed.

    1. Re:again? by Goldsmith · · Score: 2

      You would think that's how it would work, but we've had an oversupply of graphene material in the market for many years now, and the price is still significantly higher than the cost to make it yourself.

      I've tried talking with business and marketing people about this, and they say something about "perceived value" and "setting customer expectations." I expect you're right though, if they stopped selling at $10/mm^2 and sold at $0.1/mm^2, we'd see more applications being worked on.

  8. pretty neat and about time by pablo_max · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I am surprised it has taken so long to actually get graphene production up to meaningful levels given the potential uses for the material.
    One would think that its potential to drastically increase the output while decreasing the energy requirements for desalinization alone would have have spurred more development.
    Not to mention fast charging batteries, insulation, structural components in cars and aircraft, solar cells and tons of other pretty important things.

    Would be nice to have super light weight cars.

  9. Re:wow what a terrible idea by jiriw · · Score: 2

    Depends on the amount of Pu you can scrounge up - It's quite rate in nature so I guess you have to deconstruct some nukes for it first, raid a few nuclear waste sites, or make a reactor capable of fertilizing U238 to Pu239.
    Then again, I think you'll need several tonnes of the stuff if you want to both spread it evenly and letting it have a decently noticeable effect, let alone really screw us up. Getting your hands on such an amount is improbable, but possible ... there is in the order of several hundred of tonnes of the stuff 'manufactured' on this planet in total in variety of wastes, concentrations and uses.
    Be careful with the distribution, 'though. Only about 10 kilos of the stuff in too close proximity of itself will have very interesting consequences and may spontaneously decrease your supply with an inappreciable amount.
    Also, Pu is a metallic element and it's therefore very hard to 'grate' into 'mono molecular bits'...

  10. Another SI units argument by sjbe · · Score: 2

    If this place had any actual engineers, the rate of production would have also been quantified in kg/s. And J/kg, too, with their current rig.

    I'm guessing you aren't from the US if you think actual engineers always us SI units. I'll agree that they SHOULD use SI units but the fact of the matter is that in the real world they often do not.