How Long Are You In Marsoc For

graphene, the great insight Geim and Novoselov

The year 2010 has just ended and while everyone is scrambling to remember the events that occurred beautiful and less beautiful in Italy and around the world, we want to bring readers' attention to a very important other than those who have told newspapers and TV, but certainly interesting.

computer model of a layer of graphene (Source: La Repubblica)

What we are going to tell the story of the beginning of a revolution, scientific, but always revolution. It all starts with the synthesis of a material so innovative, but at the same time so simple and versatile and already everyone is talking about, as the scientific revolution of the twenty-first century (a few centuries now because everyone has the XXI no? ed.) To strengthen these considerations, we thought, in Sweden, members of the Academy of Sciences, assigning to Andre Geim and Novoselov Konstanin Nobel Prize in Physics for 2010 synthesized in the laboratory for the first time this material.

What we are talking about is the graphene, a material consisting solely of a single layer of carbon atoms. E 'was obtained for the first time in 2007, dealing graphite with a mixture of Sulphur - nitric, exfoliated and subsequently oxidized to obtain graphene with circles of alkyl groups at the edges. Further treatment with thionyl chloride, the alkyl groups has transformed first into acid chlorides and then in amides. The circle is thus obtained graphene risultatosolubile in tetrahydrofuran, tetrachloromethane and dichloroethane.

layer, "monatomic", is characterized by Carboni sp2 hybridized (the suffix-ene to chemicals should tell us something, ed), arranged to form regular hexagons, so that damage to equipment, very particular characteristics, we'll see shortly.

fact, before I would like to take a moment to lovers of fussiness, quoting the definition of IUPAC graphene " A single layer of carbon atoms arranged according to the structure of graphite can be considered as the final element of the series of naphthalene, anthracene, coronene etc.. graphene and the word must be used to indicate the layers within each of the compounds of carbon graphite. The term "layer of graphene" is commonly used in the terminology of the carbon. "

Other computer model of graphene (Source: Wikipedia)

As promised, we see the main features of this new material.

The first and most amazing, in my view, is the fact that it exists. Monoatomic layer gives rise to a material almost two - dimensional, which could create more than a few doubts, but that is justified by the fact that the oscillations of the continuous material and imperfections caused by the presence of cells within the pentagonal and heptagonal of the structure, causing curvature, giving rise to the third dimension.

The very fact that these materials are monatomic and that the existence and number of imperfections can be controlled or disclose The second main feature, that is, I like to call it, the "geometric flexibility." Let me explain. The presence of pentagonal and heptagonal cells, causes the bends, which can be controlled so that the graphene take different forms and is used in different ways. To be more precise, we can say that a "sheet of graphene can be bent by the controlled insertion of non-hexagonal cells, to obtain a nanotube, which can even be applied to a spherical cap, of the same material - think of a leather soccer ball, whose roof elements are hexagonal and pentagonal -. Obviously not all

Here, in fact among the future uses of this extraordinary material, there is one computer. Graphene is now considered the natural heir of silicon, the material widely used in the manufacture of semiconductors and electronic components, due to its outstanding conductivity, so it's already built a transistor that is capable of supporting frequencies of 100 GHz, while the "old" models could support up to 40 GHz

Other uses of graphene is that in medicine, where we hope to be able to use it as a material part of prostheses to solve small problems in areas of the body difficult to reach, but also ensuring absolute compatibility with every patient.

Finally, I am pleased to recall that the theoretical existence of graphene is not new, indeed they were sixty years that the best scientific research centers were on his trail. Only the use of human and economic resources in a continuous manner has led to the breakthrough discovery of Novoselov and Geim, members of the laboratories of the University of Manchester, aided by the resources of the Institute of Scientific Research Max Planck Institute in Germany.

All This should serve as an example to all those involved in administering the Research and University in Italy, but especially who had the courage to say that the culture can not eat, which I feel compelled to say that, even with the culture you do not eat, but with financial bubbles and the cuts are foolish kills people!

Ali