Graphene is a pretty cool thing. It’s a strip of carbon only one atom wide, and, being one of the strongest substances in the world, can combine with other things to make them more durable. We’re still finding out the many uses for this stuff, but scientists recently discovered a way to make it in your kitchen.
We’ve talked about the wonder uses of graphene before. The trouble is, thus far, producing it on an industrial scale. The best equipment can make less than half a gram per hour. Aiming to beat that, Jonathan Swan and his team in Dublin put graphite powder into a blender, and mixed it with water and Fairy Liquid (used for washing dishes). They managed to make graphene at a rate of 5 grams per hour.
Speaking with New Scientist, Coleman said that while it might be hard to separate the the graphene from the process waste in an actual home environment, the experiment is encouraging — if scaled up to an industrial level, it would be a big leap in productivity. A pilot for such a program is underway.
How did it take this long to think of such a solution? “Perhaps we are really bad at realising how simple things can be,” said Coleman.
[Graphene] via Shutterstock