No, that headline isn’t describing my genitalia, it’s actually in reference to a new discovery coming out of the University of Technology, Sydney. Their team of lab coats over there have successfully (and consistently, I might add) managed to produce samples of a material they’re calling graphene paper, a nano-structured sheet of processed graphite that’s as thin as paper and buffer than steel.
These graphene nanosheet stacks consist of monolayer hexagonal carbon lattices and are placed in perfectly arranged laminar structures which give them exceptional thermal, electrical and mechanical properties.
Using a synthesised method and heat treatment, the UTS research team has produced material with extraordinary bending, rigidity and hardness mechanical properties. Compared to steel, the prepared GP is six times lighter, five to six times lower density, two times harder with 10 times higher tensile strength and 13 times higher bending rigidity. [PhysOrg.com]
The buzz right now surrounds the future applications of the graphene paper, with commercial and engineering projects topping that list. Aside from its obvious strength and weight, the synthesized GP (graphene paper) is also much more cost efficient to produce, not to mention eco-friendly, as well. And to think, here I’ve been all this time, convinced that regular old college ruled stationary was the way to go. This graphene paper stuff sounds awfully enticing -at the very least, I’d like to practice drawing naked people on a sheet of this stuff and just see how that turns out for me.