Graphene Experiment

This year, two University of Manchester scientists, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, won the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics for their work on what is known to be the thinnest and strongest material ever, Graphene. Graphene is an ultra thin carbon material that is only 1-atom thick. Some may say, no way, it can’t be the thinnest and be the strongest material at the same time, but it is. It is so dense that not even helium gas can pass through the material.

Geim and Novoselov extracted graphene from the ordinary graphite in pencils using regular adhesive tape and flaked off carbon 1-atom thick with its structure of a flat hexagon lattice. According to New York Times, “a sheet of it stretched over a coffee cup could support the weight of a truck bearing down on a pencil point.” Can you say Amazing?

Not only is it amazing to me, but the process of discovering graphene is as well… What process right? It just tells you that relaxing, letting go of your conscience, and having a little bit of fun can lead to wonderful successes. Rewards can come from any kind of creativity, sometimes unexpected. It is said that Geim and Novoselov’s team have fun day every Friday, so they can think outside of the box and create different designs using what they have instead of being trapped in a facility where there is only hardcore training. This helps with creative thinking, and, like it did with Geim and Novoselov, can lead to amazing rewards. To me, the Nobel Prize for discovering graphene and working with the substance is wonderful, but how the two came about discovering the substance is even more incredible.

For more information about graphene:
http://www.technewsdaily.com/for-wonder-material-graphene-nobel-prize-is-just-the-start-1388/

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/press.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20018549-264.html