In one of the incredible applications of graphene in the health industry, Scientists in the University of Manchester are developing ultra thin graphene condoms.  Though current condoms are almost excellent barriers of unwanted contaminants, they are heavy and thick — which is the reason they reduce sensation and probably why people do not like wearing them, no matter the risk.

Ultra Thin Graphene Condoms

The team of Scientists from the university has received a grant of £62,123 to work on the project from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.  This is through the foundation`s Grand Challenges exploration program which supports creative projects aimed at improving health of people in the developing world. According to Dr Aravin Vijayaraghavan who will lead the team of scientists researching condom, if the project succeeds we might have an everyday use which literally will touch everyday life in the most intimate way.

The team at Manchester is only one of the 11 teams that received grants from the foundation to work on the project.  In their call to the Scientists on March 2013, the foundation sees the project`s success as what is going to be the next generation condom that enhances and significantly preserves pleasure.  In their proposal the condoms to be developed, must at least work well just like the existing condoms.

Graphene is a wondrous material with properties that make it the most studied material. It is the strongest, the best conductor, the thinnest, and to crown the most wondrous material known to man. Graphene was first, isolated at the University of Manchester in 2004 By Professor Kostya Nevoselov and Professor Andre Geim.   Currently several companies are putting graphene into use in develop the next generation devices.   The team of scientist according to a trusted source will use graphene with latex to develop a “nanomaterial” that could be used to make the thinnest condom.

With the experience, the team has on graphene we hope they will soon come up with a condom that will lower rate of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases transmission in the developing world.

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Lomiko Metals

Lomico Metals Inc. (CVE:LMR) is a company that engages in acquiring, exploring and developing mineral resource properties in Canada. The company is mostly engaged in the exploration of zinc, gold and graphite deposits. It has a large claim in Vines Lake Property in the south eastern part of Cassia town, found in British Columbia. It has some interests in Quatre Milles Property which cover at least 3,000 acres in the North Western parts of Montreal, Quebec. Initially, the company was known by the name Lomiko Resources Inc., and it acquired the new name in October 2008. Lomico Metals Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Surrey, Canada.

Lomiko Metals Inc. has recently changed its main focus to the development of High-Performance Graphene-Enhanced materials that are vital for three dimensional (3D) printing. The 3D labs have gone a step further in promoting 3D printing technology in the current world. Best quality graphite is a basic material to be used in the production of graphene. Lomiko will generally provide quality graphite to Graphene 3D Labs and has been rated the most exclusive supplier which has interests to provide a $50,000 start-up capital for a quarter a million shares entitled to dividends.

Lomiko Metals Inc. recently announced its strategic alliance with Graphene Laboratories Inc., this process has resulted in the production of excellent quality graphene for various uses, despite the fact that the production is yet to be made efficient for commercial purposes; a lot is being done to improve the production process.

Lomiko is entering into various deals that will see them become one of the leading producers of this material; this has been made possible by investing more funds into the production of the materials as well as entering into contracts with other companies aimed at making the production process more efficient.

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Due to the discovery of more graphene applications, the University of Pennsylvania has established a small research company named “Graphene Frontiers” to provide technological solutions for production of quality graphene. This body was awarded 0.744 million dollars in September to improve production of graphene in a unique process known as the roll-to-roll process. This process is expected to make the production of high quality graphene more efficient than the rather. Graphene Frontiers is making attempts to lead other producers into creating polycrystalline mono-layers of graphene through a roll-on-roll process, as opposed to the current chemical vapor decomposition (CDV) process.

Types of graphene

There are two major types of graphene: monocrystalline and polycrystalline. These two types have different applications. Polycrystalline graphene is crucial to manufacture some types of transistors and advanced composites, while monocrystalline graphene is used in more advanced applications. Despite the high demand for monocrystalline graphene, its methods of extraction do not allow large scale production. Up to date, monocrystalline graphene is produced through mechanical cleavage a technique in which graphene is extracted from graphite in single layer flakes.

This limitation has attracted a lot of investments in research into best ways to extract monocrystalline graphene. One of the companies that has invested heavily in this is Graphene Frontiers. So far they have made a breakthrough and are working on ways of making it even better. There are numerous techniques suitable for producing excellent quality graphene, and since each of them has its own shortcomings and advantages, it is not possible to say which technique is best.

One of the most commonly used techniques entails extracting carbon layers from graphite using chemical, plasma and mechanical exfoliation techniques. Unfortunately, this process leads in the production of low quality graphene.

Advanced producers use CVD techniques which do not start with mined graphite. These result in the production of synthetic graphene. This type is of excellent quality, but the major problem is until now, convenient ways of producing it have not been realized.

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The first graphene-only integrated circuit was created by International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) three years ago. However, this was not a complete breakthrough because they used largely silicon and metal for much of the hardware. University of California Santa Barbara has made a crucial discovery that involves designing an integrated circuit completely from graphene only. This new model is based on the fact that graphene displays different qualities depending on its pattern, i.e. a wide ribbon displays metallic qualities while a narrow ribbon displays semiconductor properties. If chips would be designed this way then they would be much thinner, efficient and easier to assemble as compared to the ones made with mixed material. Currently a graphene Integrated Circuit is a theoretical computer model yet to be practically made; there are no plans to produce graphene chips at the moment, therefore this could take some time to see.

Graphene Integrated Circuit – Super computer

As scientists continue to improve silicon based ICs (which involves fashioning smaller transistors onto a chip, reducing power consumption and increasing its performance) they face challenges of contact resistance. This is resistance that builds up when components conducting electricity get in touch with each other. This may not be a problem for a single component, but when there are millions of transistors and interconnects on a chip, the combined energy is a major concern.

As a designer fuses various small components onto silicon chips, more complications emerge. This is where graphene overcomes silicon. While silicon is purely a semiconductor, graphene has both conductor and semi conductor qualities. Therefore, it can act as a metal conductor and as a semi conductor just like silicon. Due to these two major qualities of graphene, a designer can fashion the entire IC onto a graphene sheet and successfully do away with any contact resistance.

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Pure Graphene

US researchers who worked on ways of making electrical contacts on graphene made two important discoveries in the process. Through use of a novel fabrication technique they have managed to create stacked layers of the finest quality of pure graphene yet. Simultaneously, they have managed to make electrical contact only along graphene’s one dimensional edge, thereby increasing the electron injection efficiently into graphene.

The two-dimensional structure of graphene makes it easy to contaminate, thus most of the techniques used when stacking the material within insulating material layers use specified polymers when picking and placing the sheets. The polymers are chemically sticky and rarely contaminate grapheme, thus enabling it to maintain its qualities. The research has disproved the theory that graphene’s ability to conduct would work far more efficiently was it to be confined to the edge of the sheets.

A team of Columbia University researchers headed by Cory Dean has appropriately addressed these problems. This was done by developing a process to create several layers of pure graphene encapsulated by several layers of boron nitride without involving extraneous materials. This was later on followed by exposing graphene’s edges to enable electrical contact.

On completing the assembly, a mask can be then be placed on the surface on top of this, and the sides are plasma edged away so as to expose the single dimension edges of the filling made of graphene. If there is need for electrical contact, the design provides that metals are deposited on the exposed edges.

Studies conducted further entailed research show one could efficiently inject electrons into the single dimension edge, and the studies have also proved electrons can fluently flow through the samples as long as the temperature is slow enough. Dean further argues this process can work well with a number of other two dimensional materials including the transitional metal dichalcogenides.

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Lunar Elevator

Scientists at Columbia University conducted a study which revealed that graphene retains most of its mechanical properties even when it has been stitched together from small fragments. This discovery may have been the first step toward large scale manufacture of carbon nanotubes, which could be essential in the manufacturing of the first space elevator, light – strong materials, and flexible electronics.

At the present moment, a practical breakthrough in the construction of a lunar elevator has not been realized. However, many scientists have performed experiments which show it will be possible through use of graphene. In these experiments, they have measured the strength of the microscopic carbon nanotube and proved it can indeed support the construction of such elevators.

The space elevator ribbon is constructed out of carbon nanotubes, which are at least 100 times stronger than steel but have flexibility equal to that of plastic. Scientists will only be able to make the ribbon to be used in the space elevator if they manage to make fibers out of carbon nanotubes. In the recent experiments, the materials that were involved were neither strong nor flexible enough to form such a ribbon.

Graphene ribbons have a very high tensile strength and very high elastic modulus, theoretically they are said to make the process of building a space elevator easy. There are two major ways that a lunar elevator ribbon can be built: in the first case a long carbon tube ideally several meters long will be braided into a rope like structure, and in the second case a shorter nanotube will be placed in a selected polymer matrix.

So far graphene is the ideal material for construction of the ribbon, the carbon-carbon bond in graphene is at least 0.142 nm. Scientists have proved that two sheets of graphene are held together by much stronger van de Waals forces than bulk Graphene.

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Researchers have developed a graphene liquid cell that can be used together with the conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to view ‘soft materials’ in three-dimensional. The term ‘soft materials’ refers to a number of things, including biological compounds such as protein, plastics, DNA, flexible electronics, therapeutic drugs, and some types of photovoltaics.

Even though these materials form an integral part in our lives, it has been a challenge to study them conveniently. These materials (especially biological compounds) pose numerous questions, especially the way they behave at the nanoscale.

3D printing-DNA

Through a combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and their own unique graphene liquid cell, the researchers have recorded the three-dimensional motion of DNA connected to gold nanocrystals. This is the first time TEM has been used for 3D dynamic imaging of so-called soft materials. Conventionally, TEM focuses a beam of electrons on the soft materials to illuminate and magnify them as means of providing a resolution used to study their properties. This technique, unlike the use of light, requires a high vacuum setting since molecules in the air perturb the electron beam. In such a high vacuum environment, liquids evaporate. This necessitates soft materials that are highly viscous to be sealed hermetically using special solid containers. These containers, called cells, have a viewing window through which the TEM forms an image.

For some time now, these viewing windows have been made of silicon which limits the resolution of the soft materials under study because of its thickness. It also disturbs the soft materials’ natural state. To overcome these challenges, researchers have now developed a liquid cell made from graphene membrane, which is one atom thick.

They bonded two opposing graphene sheets to form a sealed nanoscale chamber. This chamber has within it a stable aqueous solution which is transparent to the electron beams of the TEM. This minimizes the loss of imaging electrons as well as provides a very high resolution which is touted to be very useful in studying soft materials.

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The days of folding your tablet or phone to fit in a purse or small pocket are approaching fast with the unveiling of foldable electronics. Unlike bendable substrate-based flexible electronics, foldable electronics rely on foldable substrates that come with a very stable electricity conductor that can withstand folding. It means that the conductor embroiled on the substrate must also be foldable.

foldable-electronics

Researchers have already considered a paper as the ultimate foldable substrate to replace plastic substrates since it is cheap, versatile and can be rolled up.

In the past, there has been positive progress in several foldable electronic applications. For instance, researchers in nanotechnology have already been successful making foldable paper batteries powered by algae as well as printing solar cells on paper.

Perhaps one of the most promising paths for foldable electronics is the use of graphene circuits based on paper substrates. Researchers have been able to fabricate foldable graphene circuits for use in electronics.

Graphene is the ideal candidate for foldable devices since it has an inimitable combination of properties that make it ideal for making unique conductive ink since it is chemically stable, mechanically flexible and suitable in conducting electricity. An Inkjet-printable ink made from graphene will lead to cheap and scalable path towards real-world technologies.

foldable electronics

The creation of a high performance foldable battery and the development of graphene based electronic circuits means that future electronics will be flexible. Manufactures will now design gadgets differently since they will now be foldable or rollable. Screen will now be bendable around corners and computers will be wearable. Electronics will be paper thin and exceptionally light. Giant electronic manufacturers such as Nokia and Samsung have invested a lot in research and development of foldable electronics and have already demonstrated a lot of success in this field.

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Recently, researchers were able to use graphene in the manufacture of a photodetector that enabled an optical chip. For some time now, graphene’s numerous promising characteristics have enticed researchers into exploring ways in which they can use it to make photodetector applications.

While graphene’s poor responsivity has limited scientific work, its wide spectral range, its speedy optoelectronic response due to its high electron mobility in, and a lack of band gaps have all contributed greatly to various application developments.

Optical Chips

Despite the fact that reduced response to light might limit graphene’s use in applications that involve digital cameras, researchers have discovered a way in which it can be used as a photodetector which converts light into electricity applied in integrated optoelectronic chips found in gadgets.

The researched developed a method to overcome the low responsivity of graphene to incoming light. They created a bias in the photodetector that would maintain the electrons disrupted by the incoming photons at a higher energy level. This bias maintains a constant voltage throughout the photodetector. To avoid the resultant noise, the researchers created a bias the photodetector without applying voltage to it.

To achieve this, the researchers used an inventive design directs light through a channel into the photodetector that is capped using graphene perpendicularly oriented to the channel. Gold electrodes are placed on both ends of the graphene, with electrode placed closer to graphene than the other. This design produces a mismatch in the energy electrons found in graphene and the metal contact. This mismatch creates an electric field close to the electrode.

In operation, the photons travel through the channel and begin to kick the electrons up to a greater energy level. The electric field then pulls these energized electrons into the electrodes, creating a current in the process- without a need to apply voltage.

This technique enables the manufacture of photodetectors that use light rather than electricity. With improvements such as thinner electrodes and narrower waveguides, it might be possible to produce higher amounts of energy.

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Samsung Electronics – Investing in Graphene

Samsung Electronics, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electronics, is looking into graphene properties for the production of devices that are likely to change the world. Recently, the company, through its principal research and development incubator (Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology), developed a transistor structure using graphene that has ‘miracle’ characteristics.

The shortcomings of the silicon transistors that are currently in use have motivated the move into graphene transistors.

In most semiconductor devices used today, billions of transistors use silicon transistors for their performance. In order to boost their performance speeds, i.e. their speeds, manufactures either minimize the size of the silicon transistors in a bid to shorten the distance that the electrons need to travel, or replace them with materials that possess properties for faster electron mobility which will increase the output of the semiconductor devices. Over the years, most manufacturers have been reducing the size of the transistors to boost performance. However, this trend will change due to the discovery of the graphene transistors.

Graphene has electron mobility of approximately two hundred times higher than that of the conventional silicon used in making transistors used in semiconductor devices. As a result, graphene transistors are potential replacements of silicon transistors.

Graphene is the world’s thinnest material, with a thickness of one atom. In addition to being exceptional in conducting heat and electricity, it is also very strong and flexible. Samsung Electronics aims to manufacture sleek devices with these characteristics. These devices could have multiple features that aim at satisfying customers while at the same time ensuring their durability.

The fact that graphene can be used to make an ultra slim phone which is ‘bendable’ or ‘foldable’ and among other features such as transparency (just like Samsung’s ‘YOUM’) excites a lot of people.

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