Bend It, Charge It, Dunk It: Graphene, the Material of Tomorrow | Hacker News Reader

Bend It, Charge It, Dunk It: Graphene, the Material of Tomorrow

bits.blogs.nytimes.com

89 pointsxmpir34 comments

Why is this article on the front page of HN? Graphene is old news as are all the "it could revolutionize ....." statements. Nothing is imminent to market, but it sure seems like someone wants to acquire investments. No MVP's that can do anything w/o all that sweet investment manna? For something which lends itself to soooooo many applications, we can't even get the mundane out the door?

I may be long-term bullish, but I'm done with the hype.

Let's call it a gold rush and ambiguously tie it to the last monstrous movement - semiconductors. Maybe we should throw some other buzz in about quantum computers and sensor-laden clothing - because everybody has been clamoring to wire up their hoodies.

It, of course, doesn't even mention the toxicity risks. Asbestos is one helluva insulator. Asbestos would compliment graphene very well.

Only missing a link to arxiv.

While not sexy pencil's are arguably the oldest use of Graphene.

Edit: The argument has to do with the relative smoothness of writing relating to the thickness of the graphite layers laid down. Grapine being ideal.

No, pencils are not a single atom thick layer of graphite.

The marks they make can be.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/diy-graphene-how-t...

It apparently also has some use as a lubricant which has something to do with why #2 pencils are smoother than normal. Ed: Graphite also acts as a lubricant but #2 pencils relative smoothness has something to do with laying down more layers of graphine.

This reminds me of my excitement in the early 2000's about Holographic disc techonology:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_Versatile_Disc

It seems like it's never coming. It is a technology before its time.

Mostly because we found technology that's better. I think memristors, If Graphene never happens because we find better things... i'm not going to complain :D

Yeah, what happened to memristors? I didn't hear a lot about them anymore since the last breakthrough a few years ago :/

They fail to mention it causes hypegasms :-) But more seriously, it is going to change the world over time, and carbon based electronics. But I am not sure why this article other than to mention Samsung's press releases (http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/news/newsIrRead.do?ne...) or to just give out a tech 'feel good' vibe.

When and if graphene is in production in new products: What comes after that? We're always building something harder, better, faster, stronger (sorry I can't help myself). Can we even fathom something beyond graphene? Or do we plateau? Charging a cell phone in 15 minutes is awesome, but what about instantly? Shoot, lets just embed cell phones into our bodies, and we'll power them with our cells!

I am looking forward to this actually being used. It has been a big deal for a while and all we've got so far is... a condom?

It's much more affordable now. What would be really cool is if the iWatch had this (not planning on buying one, but still)

Samsung's YOUM flexible display uses graphene, I believe, but I don't think they've used that in a product yet.

I wonder if graphene devices could be fabricated using 3D printers. Now, that would be a game changer even if their performance was below silicon devices.

More graphene goodness from the MIT Tech Review today:

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/512496/first-graphene-a...

Apparently it makes great speakers...

So, if Graphene is so awesome, what are the problems with its application? So far it seems it's still mostly in research. From a HN front page article I expect a little more than simply listing research efforts etc.

Hopefully someone more up to speed can correct me/chinme in. As I understand it. It's the cost/difficulty of production of quality graphene structures.

Lake anything else (carbon fibers, semi-conductors) the cost of production starts very high and is only cost effective in specific targeted use cases. For example, Graphene is currently used in equipment in DNA Labs.

As companies develop better manufacturing techniques you get high cost corporate and high income early adopter products like the Samsung flex display.

Over the next 20 to 40 years manufacturing it will get cheaper, and as manufacturing equipment for graphene starts being readily available you'll see grapheme start showing up everywhere. It'll get to the point where it's in everything but nobody talks about it. Everything will continue to get smaller and/or more efficient.

You're right. The reason by the NYT is excited about it now is that Samsung recently announced a "breakthrough" in manufacturing which lowers the costs:

http://venturebeat.com/2014/04/04/samsung-claims-a-graphene-...

The article's not new, but the NYT isn't in the business of tech scoops.

Something comes to mind. Read some old science fiction. The Asimov Foundation series provides good examples. Fission/atomic power was all the range when the book were written. It reads as hopi

"Graphene could change the electronics industry, ushering in flexible devices, supercharged quantum computers, electronic clothing and computers that can interface with the cells in your body."

Nice, all the current emerging tech hypes in one sentence, including of course quantum computing :)

"Benjamin, I want to say one word to you. Just one word … ”

"Yes … What is is, Mr. McGuire?”

"Plastics.”

    http://youtu.be/PSxihhBzCjk

Looking forward to see cross country skiing poles made from graphene :-)

does anyone know where one can buy this material for experiments etc?

Make your own, use stick tape and graphite pencil.

A quick LMGTFY led me to "Graphene Supermarket":

https://graphene-supermarket.com/home.php

appreciate it!

http://www.grapheneshop.pl/en/home

Didn't Daft Punk write a song called Technologic about graphene? ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozitqabi6UM

Wooow! this is freaking awesome if this really can happen!

Does it cure cancer too?

No, it causes it..

Is there any peer reviewed study supporting this claim?

Not agreeing with it, but I assume the op is referring to the claims about graphene fibers acting in a similar fashion to asbestos.

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2012/February/graphen...

But there's widespread disagreement:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/nanotechno...

Thanks for posting these links. They do help framing the debate on carcinogenic effects of Graphene better than hearsay.

This article http://io9.com/graphene-miracle-material-could-be-toxic-to-h...

Refers here: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/07/09/1222276110

Which isn't conclusive of anything, but it does point at need for continued study of health effects of graphene. The sharpness of graphene vs cell walls evokes a similarity to asbestos fibers [my laymans impression, not the papers]. I guessing that health research in the topic is going to significantly lag the creation rate of different forms of graphene.

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