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Graphene is set to change the world

20 Aug 2020.07:05 AM

Mintu Sarma

(The writer can be reached at sarmamintu9@gmail.com)

The revolutionary invention of the wheel, around 3,500 BC brought showers of blessings to mankind as it paved the way to the zenith of development. Similarly discovery of graphene also germinated a new era for nanotechnology that has shifted conventional silicon microelectronics to elegant graphene nanoelectronics.

The membrane separation from graphite is a promising task and it was considered as an unfeasible for decades. Although there were sporadic attempts to study graphene since way back 1859 the groundbreaking result was a hard nut to crack.

Ultimately, as said that "impossible" means I am possible, the graphene conundrum was elucidated at Manchester University, England in 2004. It obviously created a jovial ambiance in scientific society when Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov discoThe revolutionary invention of the wheel, around 3,500 BC brought showers of blessings to mankind as it paved the way to the zenith of development. Similarly discovery of grapheneered monolayer of graphene by overcoming all the shortcomings. Undoubtedly, this stunning work has been recognized as a milestone for the novel research area that has enhanced semiconductor perspectives. Both the professors were awarded by Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for their world-shattering works.

Nowadays electricity (energy) is considered as the fourth fundamental need after food, cloth and shelter. The total annual energy consumption of the world is around two petawatts (1015 watts) hours, the demand is gradually increasing. Conventional energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas had considerable growth, followed by hydropower and renewable energy. Renewable energy grew at a rate faster than any other time in recent years. The demand for nuclear energy decreased, in part due to nuclear disasters phobia. More recently, consumption of coal has declined relative to renewable energy; even so only 11% of total energy is drawing out from renewable energy. Solar energy could shift the human dependency on conventional to renewable energy. Graphene is playing an important role in the production of renewable energy from the Sun. Since graphene received the Nobel Prize in 2010, many scientists have moved their research direction towards it, more importantly in synthesis, fabrication and its application in various electrochemical devices such as fuel cells, solar cell, batteries, and super capacitors. Graphene used materials can be resembled with the miraculous device in Sci-Fi or fantasy movies, cloaking devices on spaceships in various star trek series, breathtaking voyages by solar power or beyond one's imagination. It has been established as a paramount game-changer to lead technology in feasible pathway. Graphene is a two-dimensional planner film has many unique properties such as the quickest electron mobility, highest conductivity, largest surface area, and excellent electronic capabilities, compared to other alternatives such as Carbon Nano Tube (CNT), Graphite and other conventional metals. It is extremely strong but very light. It can be used in the manufacturing of bulletproof jackets or ultra-strong body armour. Weight of one square-meter graphene is approximately 0.0077 grams that can easily hold a four-kilo baby. One gram graphene is enough to cover entire football field (57,600 square feet).Very small sheet of Graphene conducts much electricity that could be a preeminent explorer to develop miniaturized super-fast computers and transistors. One of the valuable applications of Graphene oxide is its potential to use in water treatment projects for the elimination of bacteria and other contaminants. These contaminants cause dangerous effects on living beings. There is around 8 × 10 5 tonnes of harmful dyes formed worldwide every year. In addition, an organic dye is toxic for living beings. Graphene-based materials may act as photocatalysts that exhibit photo degradation of dye in the presence of Sunlight. Photocatalysis is an effective technique that has the ability to degrade the contaminants or impurities present in water.

It is well known that our planet is facing dearth of drinking water and the problem would deepen oncoming decades. Graphene could solve it in style. Being a mesoporous substance, it is capable of removing salt from seawater. It gives them access to the possibility of using seawater on drinking and irrigation purposes in a relatively simple way. Pristine graphene has no band gap between valence and conduction band which is essential for switching system. Invariable research on graphene had conquered this shortcoming and introduced graphene nanoribbon that is narrow enough to have an electronic band gap. Graphene-based metamaterial in cloaking technology (invisible technology) has surprised the researchers. Invisible cloaking mechanism is a strategy which possesses an unprecedented control of light. Researchers have coated nanowires and nanowire dimmers with graphene to create polarization-dependent materials which possess a tunable invisibility cloaking mechanism like harry potter magical shawl.

Discovery of graphene might be considered as the boon for the human race. So far, the Graphene involved nanostructures has been utilized in different applications including nano-electronics and optoelectronics, electrochemical pseudo capacitor, biochemical and chemical sensors, drug delivery, high-efficiency catalysis, energy conversion, to mention a few. Graphene field-effect transistor (G-FET) biosensor can be used for the detection of RNA. Detection of RNA can provide very useful information for molecular biology research, genetic disease diagnosis, and environmental monitoring. The Graphene biosensors have been used to detect flu strains and other viral strains especially for detecting COVID-19. G-FET can detect coronavirus at ultra-low concentrations of 1 femtogram/ml which is ultra-sensitive. One can receive COVID result within 5 minutes which has pulled out the people from the whirl of feverish activities. There is no iota of doubt that graphene is the wonder material in 21st century and set to change the world.

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