\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAndre Geim And Konstantin Novoselov Find Surprising New Graphene Powers \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t \t \t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t \t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGraphene is an ultra-thin sheet of carbon just one atom thick. A mysterious new property of graphene has been discovered by one of the British Nobel Prize-winning scientists who first created the "wonder material". In 2010, University of Manchester professors Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov won the physics Nobel prize for work that involved producing flakes of graphene using sticky tape. Both received knighthoods in the New Year Honours List. Graphene is the thinnest material known and the strongest ever measured. It also conducts electricity and heat better than any other material. Potential applications include fold-away mobile phones, wallpaper-thin lighting panels, and the next generation of aircraft. Now a team led by Sir Andre has shown that graphene membranes shut out all gases and liquids except for water. As far as water alone is concerned, they are "superpermeable". Water evaporates through a graphite membrane so fast it is as if no barrier was there at all. The scientists studied membranes made from graphene oxide - graphene sheets peppered with other molecules. The sheets stack on top of each other to form strong, flexible laminates hundreds of times thinner than a human hair. \tA metal container sealed with a graphite oxide film prevented air or any other gas, including helium, to leak out. But the researchers were surprised to find that it was no obstacle to water molecules. "Helium gas is hard to stop," said Sir Andre. "It slowly leaks even through a millimetre-thick window glass but our ultra-thin films completely block it. At the same time, water evaporates through them unimpeded. Materials cannot behave any stranger." The research, reported today in the journal Science, highlighted one immediate practical use for graphite oxide membranes - distilling alcohol. "Just for a laugh, we sealed a bottle of vodka with our membranes and found that the distilled solution became stronger and stronger with time," said co-author Dr Rahul Nair. "Neither of us drinks vodka but it was great fun to do the experiment." Sir Andre added: "The 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."
I've seen a TED talks video about this stuff being used for covering windows. I can't wait to see what else we can use it for!!! The future is looking pretty damn good.
So the graphene separates gases from liquids. And they used it to filter the water and alcohol from all the other gases in the vodka. This made the vodka more potent. Looks like they'll first need to develop a way of manufacturing graphene reliably and cheaply. After that, they can then develop instruments (touchscreen phones, transistors, filters) to create new industries. So the manufacturing bit will now be the issue. And God knows when they'll be able to make the thing cheaply.
Haha well you can make graphene yourself. All it takes is a pencil and a piece of paper. One of the cheapest experiments that led to a Nobel prize ever
Yes, but what kind of ruler did they use to measure the graphene? Yup, it was a multi-million dollar electron microscope. Graphene can be used to make transistors to work faster. That can mean that computers can run faster.
Perhaps even more surprisingly, we've just found not one but two Russians who don't drink vodka. Even so, they just happened to find a bottle of vodka laying around in the lab and "just for a laugh" wanted to make it stronger. Something doesn't sound right to me. But hey, if it's advancing science...