Graphene self-repairs

This has some amazing implications for bendable circuits, wearable electronics, etc.

RESEARCHERS at the University of Manchester and the SuperSTEM facility at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory have found that graphene can self-repair its holes. Graphene is composed of one-atom-thick carbon sheets and has electronic and physical properties that promise a number of exciting applications in the future. The team, led by Professor Kostya Novoselov was originally looking to gain a deeper understanding into how metals interact with graphene. However, in the course of their study, they found that while metals can cause holes in the graphene sheet, some of these holes mended themselves using nearby loose carbon atoms to re-knit the graphene structure. According to the researchers, not only can they use metals to controllably sculpt the graphene at an atomic level, they can also grow it back in new shapes, making for an increased degree of flexibility.

Source: http://www.electronicsnews.com.au/news/graphene-self-repairs

Making salt-water fresh

Oh, the many uses of this amazing material!  Discovered a new application today -- desalination!  With 70 percent of the Earth's water containing salt, the possible application of this to use the most plentiful source of water?  Awesome.

"Earlier this year, University of Manchester researchers studying graphene’s ion permeation properties found that water molecules from a container diffused through a graphene membrane at the same evaporation rate whether the container was closed or open. Professor Andre Geim, a recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research with graphene, told WDR, “Its properties are so unusual that it is hard to imagine that they cannot find some use in the design of filtration, separation or barrier membranes and for selective removal of water.”

SOURCES:  http://www.desalination.com/wdr/48/28/graphene-membranes-show-promise 

Transforming the capabilities of electronics

A sheet of graphene "one carbon atom thick" has unique physical properties that can transform a passive device into one that can produce and interact with microwave frequencies.  

New research by Columbia Engineering demonstrates remarkable optical nonlinear behavior of graphene that may lead to broad applications in optical interconnects and low-power photonic integrated circuits. With the placement of a sheet of graphene just one-carbon-atom-thick, the researchers transformed the originally passive device into an active one that generated microwave photonic signals and performed parametric wavelength conversion at telecommunication wavelengths.

SOURCE:  http://www.pddnet.com/news-graphene-leads-to-a-new-paradigm-for-low-power-telecommunications-071612/