Graphene, science's latest wonder material, is surprisingly easy to produce. JR Minkel explores how to make the novel substance, which is discussed in detail in Carbon Wonderland
Work in a relatively clean environment (or even a clean room, if possible); stray dirt or hair wreaks havoc with graphene samples. To get that clean room vibe on the cheap, grab some goggles and rubber gloves, along with a shower cap for your head as well as two more for each foot....[More]
Work in a relatively clean environment (or even a clean room, if possible); stray dirt or hair wreaks havoc with graphene samples. To get that clean room vibe on the cheap, grab some goggles and rubber gloves, along with a shower cap for your head as well as two more for each foot.
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Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
Prepare a wafer of oxidized silicon, which makes graphene layers stand out under a microscope. To smooth out the surface to accept the graphene and clean it thoroughly, Jarillo-Herrero (shown here) and his co-workers apply a mix of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide, known in the lab as "piranha." ...[More]
Prepare a wafer of oxidized silicon, which makes graphene layers stand out under a microscope. To smooth out the surface to accept the graphene and clean it thoroughly, Jarillo-Herrero (shown here) and his co-workers apply a mix of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide, known in the lab as "piranha."
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JR Minkel
Attach a graphite flake to about six inches (15 centimeters) of plastic sticky tape with tweezers. Fold the tape right next to the flake so that you sandwich it between the tape's sticky sides....[More]
Attach a graphite flake to about six inches (15 centimeters) of plastic sticky tape with tweezers. Fold the tape right next to the flake so that you sandwich it between the tape's sticky sides. Press down gingerly to get a good seal and then peel the tape apart slowly enough so that the graphite cleaves smoothly in two. The duplicate flakes will be shinier now because (ideally) the peeling has exposed an atom-smooth layer.
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Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
Repeat step 3 around 10 times until you get a nice Rorschach inkblot-style pattern. As you fold the tape, try to keep the flakes tightly spaced without letting them overlap too much....[More]
Repeat step 3 around 10 times until you get a nice Rorschach inkblot-style pattern. As you fold the tape, try to keep the flakes tightly spaced without letting them overlap too much. You'll know you've reached the last couple of folds when the graphite starts to lose its sheen.
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Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
Carefully lay the cleaved graphite sample that remains stuck to the tape on the silicon. Using soft plastic tongs, gently press out any air between the tape and sample....[More]
Carefully lay the cleaved graphite sample that remains stuck to the tape on the silicon. Using soft plastic tongs, gently press out any air between the tape and sample. Now here comes the boring part: Pass the tongs lightly but firmly over the sample for 10 minutes. Be as firm as you can without pressing down.
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Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
With the tongs, keep the wafer planted on the surface while slowly peeling off the tape. This step should take 30 to 60 seconds to minimize shredding of any graphene you have created. [Link to this slide] Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
Place the wafer under a good microscope fitted with a 50X or 100X objective lens. You should see plenty of graphite debris: large, shiny chunks of all sorts of shapes and colors. [Link to this slide] Peter Blake, Graphene Industries, Ltd.
If you're lucky, you'll get some graphene: highly transparent, crystalline shapes with little color compared with the rest of the wafer. That steplike pattern is a pile of graphene sheets layered on top of one another....[More]
If you're lucky, you'll get some graphene: highly transparent, crystalline shapes with little color compared with the rest of the wafer. That steplike pattern is a pile of graphene sheets layered on top of one another.
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Peter Blake, Graphene Industries, Ltd.
We had some luck, but not much. Amid the graphite and adhesive gunk in our sample was this pile of graphene layers, including what Jarillo-Herrero said was a tiny patch of single-layer graphene at the bottom left....[More]
We had some luck, but not much. Amid the graphite and adhesive gunk in our sample was this pile of graphene layers, including what Jarillo-Herrero said was a tiny patch of single-layer graphene at the bottom left. We'll have to take his word for it.
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Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
"Graphene, science's latest wonder material, is surprisingly easy to produce."
This statement is rather funny and misleading. The whole process is very laborious and unreliable. I would have appreciated if the editor cared to mention that the graphene produced by this method is good only for fundamental research and significant advances are required for the realization of graphene-based electronic devices.
Andre Geim, who discovered this method, is prolific. He won the Ig Nobel Prize in physics in 2000 (together with Michael Berry) for using magnets to levitate a frog. http://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2000
We can make graphene at home, we've been to the moon and back again, our cell phones have more computing power than all early supercomputers combined. But websites force their visitors to click through 9 pages. Sigh...
Note that in the grey area, between the 36um and 14um indicators there are some blue thicker fragments that instead of looking bright blue everywhere else on the plate look dull as if they have been masked over with a grey photoshopped image in additive mode?
Note how all of the thicker sturdier graphite is shattered and spread around, but the ultra fragile grey layers are in perfect large trapezoids with exact straight and parallel edges?
You might wonder what process could possibly have resulted in such regular shapes of one atom thick. I believe it is called faking it.
Hum, you should look more into crystal behavior and cleavage plans. If you don't believe what the conspirators claim about the properties, get a sample of something like galena and smash it yourself. The result is pretty cool!
CREATIONISM EVOLVES
11 Comments
Add CommentWhat are the future projected uses of this product?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat size is suitable of the graphite used in Lab when we make graphene?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUsual adhensive tape is ok or we must use special adhensive tape?Thank you!
what is the thickness of the wafer of oxidized silicon which makes graphene layers stand out under a microscope. ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswhat is the thickness of the wafer of oxidized silicon which makes graphene layers stand out under a microscope. ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think the "piranha" should be a mix of concentrated sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe piranha solution is a mix of concentrated sulfuic acid and hydrogen peroxide.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Graphene, science's latest wonder material, is surprisingly easy to produce."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis statement is rather funny and misleading. The whole process is very laborious and unreliable. I would have appreciated if the editor cared to mention that the graphene produced by this method is good only for fundamental research and significant advances are required for the realization of graphene-based electronic devices.
Andre Geim, who discovered this method, is prolific. He won the Ig Nobel Prize in physics in 2000 (together with Michael Berry) for using magnets to levitate a frog.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2000
We can make graphene at home, we've been to the moon and back again, our cell phones have more computing power than all early supercomputers combined. But websites force their visitors to click through 9 pages. Sigh...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNote that in the grey area, between the 36um and 14um indicators there are some blue thicker fragments that instead of looking bright blue everywhere else on the plate look dull as if they have been masked over with a grey photoshopped image in additive mode?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNote how all of the thicker sturdier graphite is shattered and spread around, but the ultra fragile grey layers are in perfect large trapezoids with exact straight and parallel edges?
You might wonder what process could possibly have resulted in such regular shapes of one atom thick. I believe it is called faking it.
Hum, you should look more into crystal behavior and cleavage plans. If you don't believe what the conspirators claim about the properties, get a sample of something like galena and smash it yourself. The result is pretty cool!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this