Researchers from Rice University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology today unveiled a new method for producing bulk quantities of one-atom-thick sheets of carbon called graphene which could lead to novel carbon composites and touch-screen displays.
Graphene sheets are nothing new. Lead pencils are made from graphite which is simply graphene sheets stacked together.
By applying new methods developed to directly image carbon nanotubes in acid, the researchers were able to dissolve graphite in chlorosulphonic acid, a common industrial solvent, and peel the individual graphene layers apart. Using the concentrated solutions of dissolved graphene, the scientists made transparent films that were electrically conductive.
Such films could be useful in making touch screens that are less expensive than those used today.
Read the whole article at: PhysOrg.
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