GRAPHENE MATERIAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Abstract

Graphene material is an allotrope of carbon, consisting of a unit layer of atoms arranged in a 2-dimensional honeycomb lattice. In its structure, it is an atomic-scale hexagonal lattice that is made of carbon atoms. Moreover, each atom in the form of the graphene material is connected to three of its nearest neighbors by a type of bond called ; this bond contributes one electron to the conduction band, extending over the entire sheet. This particular bond type is similar to the carbon nanotubes, glassy carbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and fullerenes. This paper outlines an understanding of the graphene material, describing the background of the material, its properties, and its applications. These findings were from internet sources and book libraries on graphene material. The concluding finding supports the result; thus, graphene is a useful material for future technological improvement.

Keywords: composite material, carbon, properties, sensors, modern electronics, modern material

History Background of Graphene

During the 18^th century, an extremely lamellar structure was discovered by a scientist, Benjamin Brodie. The form was of a thermally reduced graphite oxide. Consequently, two more scientists began to study more into this, and in the 19^th century, they discovered the structure of graphite by a technique of powder X-ray diffraction. These scientists who discovered this were P. Scherrer and Peter Debije. More study was done by scientists as P. Haenni and V. Kohlchutter in the same century, and they discovered the properties of these graphite oxide materials on a paper. Graphene properties theory was first studied in the year 1947 by a scientist called P.R. Wallaceas to get a more thoughtful understanding concerning the electronic properties of 3-dimensional graphite. As a result, the term ‘graphene’ was used to describe single sheets of graphite. Besides, in the year 1987, it was used to refer to graphite intercalation compounds.

 

 

 

Graphene properties

Graphene properties are categorized into chemical properties, physical properties, electrical properties, and mechanical properties.

Mechanical properties

1. Graphene has a mechanical strength of 0.142 Nm long carbon bonds.
2. It has a tensile strength of 130 GPa.

• Graphene has the most robust material which has been ever discovered.

Physical properties

1. Graphene has a hexagonal lattice which appears like two interleaving triangular lattices.
2. Graphene has a theoretical specific surface area (SSA), which is given at 2630 m²/g. This SSA is much larger those of carbon nanotubes or carbon black.

• It is a transparent and 2-dimensional structure.

Electrical properties

1. It has zero-overlap semimetal with very high electrical conductivity.
2. Graphene contains a zero-gap semi-conductor due to its valence and conduction band meeting at the Dirac points.

• The conductivity of the graphene material is relatively low because of the Dirac points.

Chemical properties

1. Graphene forms the only single carbon structure in which each atom is available for chemical reaction and bonding due to its 2-dimensional characteristic.
2. Atoms found at the edges of the graphene material have a unique chemical reactivity.

• Graphene materials contain the highest ratio of edge atoms of all allotropes. As a result, the defects realized in a single sheet raise its chemical reactivity.

1. It burns too low temperature of about 350

 

 

Application

Graphene has various applications because of its unique properties. The unique properties extracted from graphene material are one of the many reasons it is considered the “wonder material.” The applications are virtually unlimited and promise to revolutionize many fields: for example, in medicine application, it is used in Photothermal Therapy (PTT). Photothermal Therapy is an approach used to eliminate abnormal cells present in the body’s targeted areas irradiating a special agent, which creates heat capable of destroying the found cells. Graphene oxide helps in increasing the effectiveness of PTT in so many ways. First, it can be used to carry chemotherapeutic drugs to the tumor cells as they are exposed to PTT simultaneously. Combining chemo and PTT is more effective in this process rather than using one of these approaches alone. A nanocomposite of reduced graphene oxide (QD-CRGO) can be applied during PTT to bioimage the cancer cells. It is agreed that using grapheme oxide functionalized with biocompatible porphyrin as a platform for PTT for brain cancer have killed more cancer cells than PTT alone without giving any harm to the healthy cells.

Conclusion

In conclusion, graphene material is also known as the “wonder material,” has various useful applications that can be put into many uses because of its unique properties. As a result, the graphene material opens up a new horizon in the world of technology. Its revolution is not limited to one field; rather, it is open to different domains from computing and electronics to construction or even health. Therefore, the study of graphene materials should be encouraged in our top college institutions to discover its various applications.

References

Geim, A. K. (2012). Graphene prehistory. Physica Scripta, 2012(T146), 014003.

Fang, M., Wang, K., Lu, H., Yang, Y., & Nutt, S. (2009). Covalent polymer functionalization of graphene nanosheets and mechanical properties of composites. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 19(38), 7098-7105.

Fuchs, J. N., & Goerbig, M. O. (2008). Introduction to the physical properties of graphene. Lecture notes, 10, 11-12.

Wei, D., Liu, Y., Wang, Y., Zhang, H., Huang, L., & Yu, G. (2009). Synthesis of N-doped graphene by chemical vapor deposition and its electrical properties. Nano letters, 9(5), 1752-1758.

Jo, G., Choe, M., Lee, S., Park, W., Kahng, Y. H., & Lee, T. (2012). The application of graphene as electrodes in electrical and optical devices. Nanotechnology, 23(11), 112001.