Materialsgraphene Guide 31oct11

7/23/2019 Materialsgraphene Guide 31oct11

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Exploring MaterialsGraphene

Try this!1. Take a piece of tape about 3 inches long.

Fold over the two ends so you have small,non-sticky tabs to hold.

2. se the twee!ers to put a "ake of graphiteon the sticky side of the tape.

3. Fold the tape in half over the graphite andpeel it apart again. #o this several moretimes.

$. %tick your tape onto a white card. &hat doyou see'

Whats going on?

(ou)ve made very thin layers of graphite*and maybeeven some graphene, the thinnest material thate+ists raphene is a single layer of carbon atomsarranged in a honeycomb pattern.

(ou started with a "ake of graphite, which is a mineralmade of many layers of graphene stacked on top ofeach other. raphite is the material in pencils,commonly called pencil lead./ This simple techni0uefor making graphene from graphite and tape*plusvery insightful measurements of its properties*wonndre eim and onstantin ovoselov a obel 4ri!ein 4hysics in 2515

Graphite

Now try

1. se the pencil to color in the bo+ on your card. 6e sure to 7llit in completely. (ou)re creating a thin layer of graphite.

2. Touch the two alligator clips to the layer of graphite. &hathappens'

Whats going on?

The light bulb lights up The graphite on the card conductselectricity, completing the electrical circuit. 8ike the thickerlayers of graphite on your card, the thinner layers of grapheneon your piece of tape could conduct electricity.

How is this nano?


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Flexible graphenecircit

Graphene is a single layer o carbon ato"s arrange# in ahoneyco"b pattern$raphene is only one atom thick*that)s afraction of a nanometer 9 nanometer is a billionth of a meter.:

;n the 7eld of nanotechnology, scientists and engineers make new,nano-si!ed materials and devices. raphene has a lot of potentialin nanotechnology because of its useful properties< it)s "e+ible,super-strong, nearly transparent, and conducts electricity.=omputer chip manufacturers are developing circuits from

graphene, by modifying it to make it a semiconductor. >ne day,graphene could be used to make see-through, bendable electronicdisplays, and tiny, fast computer chips.


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%earning ob&ecti'es

1. raphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern.2. raphene can be a semi-conductor.

Materials

Flakes of graphite

4lastic twee!ers with a pointed tip

%cotch tape

&hite activity cards 9or inde+ cards:

%oft drawing pencils 9?6 is best:

4encil sharpener

6attery and bulb circuit 9@v battery, @v snapconnectors, Amm 8B# bulb, 335 >hm resistor,two insulated leads:

raphene/ image sheet

4hotocopy master for activity cards

(attery an# blb circit

raphite "akes can be purchased from www.graphene-supermarket.com 9natural ishgraphite, grade 255, C%--5A51:.

6attery and bulb circuit materials can be purchased from www.radioshack.com 98B# bulbC2D?-521, @v battery CAA53@E$@, battery connectors C2D5-32$, resistor C2D1-1113,leads C2DE-11A?:.

Note to the presenter

;f you have a molecular model set, you can build a model of graphene to supplementthe illustrations in this activity.

)elate# e#cational resorces

The ;%B etwork online catalog 9www.nisenet.orgcatalog: contains additional resourcesto introduce visitors to atoms, molecules, and nanomaterials

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Materialsgraphene Guide 31oct11