This Fire Detecting Wallpaper Can Turn an Entire Room into an Alarm

Fire Detecting Wallpaper: The wallpaper of the future!

Have you ever heard of wallpaper that can not only detect fire in the area that it is in but also helps in preventing its spread? Well neither have I until now that is. Researchers have come up with wallpaper that can detect fire and which is also fire resistant. Made of a material that is found in bone teeth and hormones, yes you read right, this fire detecting wallpaper, may actually stop the spread of flames and also alert you to the fact that your house is on fire.

Those colorful, beautiful wallpaper that you find in stores today are actually highly flammable made of such materials such as plant cellulose fibers and synthetic polymers, these wallpapers will help a fire spread in the nick of time making recovery of anything near impossible. Researchers of the fire detecting wallpaper have swapped out those flammable materials for something strange yet environmentally friendly.

The strange material in fire detecting wallpaper:

Fire detecting wallpaper is made of a material commonly found in bone teeth and hormone, (God knows where they got the idea from), this material known as hydroxyapatite is fashioned into long and by that I mean really long nanowires to give it high flexibility.

This hydroxyapatite material, that is used to make the fire detecting wallpaper, actually helps the wallpaper in preventing the spread of flames.

Making the fire detecting wallpaper “smart”:

Researchers didn’t just make the fire detecting wallpaper preventive of fire, they also wanted to make it “smart”. To do this they added sensors to the fire detecting wallpaper made from drops of graphene oxide in an inky mixture.

This graphene oxide acts in two ways, at room temp, it acts as an insulator, that is it blocks the flow of electricity while under high temperature say when there is a fire, it makes the fire detecting wallpaper conductive and this completes a circuit that sound an alarm.

Researchers also boast that this alarm on the fire detecting wallpaper can last for a prolonged period of more than five minutes.

So to fit it all in one nice package, the fire detecting wallpaper is not only non-flammable but also high in temperature resistance and has an automatic fire alarm.

The wallpaper that you find in today’s stores are highly flammable and won’t do nothing when it comes to a fire in the house while the fire detecting wallpaper has a high flexibility, it can also be processed into various shapes, made in different colors and made with a commercial printer.

But all this won’t come cheap, the fire detecting wallpaper, because of their materials come at a very steep price tag. They may be environmentally friendly but not really pocket friendly, making you think that you’d rather take your chances when and if there is a fire with normal wallpaper.

The next thing on the agenda, therefore, for scientists is that they now are looking for more cost effective ways of making fire detecting wallpaper, that will be easy on a person’s wallet.

Samsung: Graphene Balls Boost Battery Charging Speed by 500 Percent

Graphene Balls to Charge your phone Faster

Have you ever stepped out of your house and then realized that your phone is dead and charging could mean another hour or so when you don’t really have the time? Well, all that is going to change with Samsung’s 12 minute charge time. I don’t mean 12 minutes for just a bit of charge either but a full charge cycle.

In smartphones, a number of hardware has undergone changes to not only make the phone more efficient but also to make it more capable. But one of the things that has taken a backseat or which has not developed at the same rate, is the battery used in these smartphones.
 

How can a phone get a full charge in 12 minutes with Graphene balls?

 
Previously, or even now, smart phones had/have lithium-ion batteries. With today’s smartphones doing more than before, they also take up a lot of juice and this requires a lot of charge as well as the time it takes also increases.

Researchers have been looking for alternatives to these lithium-ion batteries but nothing seems to be promising until now.

A new study by Samsung has found, Graphene balls which is supposed to increase battery capacity by 45% and what is the greatest yet- it can increase charging time by a whopping 500%.
 

Why are Graphene Balls so great?

 
Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology or SAIT for short, has discovered this novel method of charging. But coming to the question of why are Graphene balls so great?

The answer is simple, with Graphene balls, the batteries not only have a higher capacity but also a faster charge time than ever before. Earlier, other solutions could either have a higher capacity or a faster charge time but not both.

Getting the ingredients for these graphene ball batteries is neither expensive nor difficult to find and another major advantage is that Samsung can incorporate Graphene balls into the batteries without majorly altering its manufacturing Equipment which otherwise could have been an expensive venture. So it means that the battery will still be able to give its best and at, hopefully a reasonable price for customers.
 

More about Graphene balls…

 
Graphene is a highly advanced substance which is a hexagonal lattice of carbon. SAIT used this lattice structure to create a Graphene ball with the help of silica. These Graphene balls will be located as a protective layer on the cathode and anode ends of the battery. The location is also deliberate as this point allows for greater charging capacity and faster speeds.

With the Graphene balls high stability, ability to act as a semi- conductor and its good thermal conductivity, it is proving to be a really good substitute for those lithium-ion batteries.

Everyone remembers the note 7 fiasco; this time around Samsung is taking no chances with the graphene balls. The graphene balls will allow the battery to charge without getting too hot.

When I’m talking increased capacity with the graphene balls, I mean a tablet’s worth of charging capacity that is 5000-6000mAh at a charge time of a mere 12 minutes.

Graphene Based sieve Turns Seawater into Drinking Water

Graphene Based Sieves Makes Seawater Fit For Drinking

It is an unaltered fact that Sea Water is not fit for drinking because of the excess Sodium content in it, but science is developing at a very fast pace and in this 21st century the stalwarts of science and technology have innovated a new technique through which they can separate salt from the sea water and will make them fit for drinking. We cannot drink sea water because of the taste, simultaneously it leadsto several other health problems like high blood pressure and many more.

Our planet Earth is known as the blue planet because it has approximately 71% of water out of which only 3 % of the water is non-saline and hence fit for consuming. Due to this situation, there are people in this world who do not get optimum amount of water to drink and there are many who even die due to the scarcity of drinking water. If the researchers can reduce the percentage of unfit water by making it fit to drink, then that would be a very big gift to mankind.

A team of researchers based in UK have developed a sieve based on Graphene that can remove salt from the sea water and will make it fit for drinking. A team from the University of Manchester had confirmed a fact in 2004 that graphene consists of carbon atoms which are layered singly and are organized in a lattice in the form of a hexagone, due to which this tool is sure to provide promising results with the help of extraordinary properties, which includes unusual strength in the tensile and a high conductor of electricity that ensures this as one of the most potent material to grant assured measures in the past.

The scientists have also declared that it is quite difficult to manufacture such single layered Graphene with the existing technologies. The production cost is also very high and that needs to be supported. The deposition of chemical vapor method won’t be much feasible to support the innovation from all ends. Rather, a very onymous scientist has confirmed that oxides that are to be used in the Graphene can be produced only via a simple method of oxidation in the lab.

Though, he orated it to be simple, but the process is lengthy. This is undoubtedly a very big step to abolish the problems cropping up due to scarcity of drinking water, but the underlying measures are such that cannot be averted and for this, the technique of Graphene is still at stake. Manufacturing of single layered Graphene is not much feasible, instead we can replace it that with oxide Graphene, which will give the same result with less cost of production.

Some problematic zones have been discovered when it comes to Graphene of single layer and these uncomfort zones can be avoided if Graphene of oxide are used in its place. So, in this era using of oxides of Graphene will be much suitable to avoid unnecessary expansions.

Three Layers of Graphene Reveals a New Kind of Magnet

You can’t bring a pause to two of the main parts of this world and that is time and the invention. Time and again science and technology has made our lives more comfortable and cosier.Well, recently there was a great and astonishing discovery in the field of magnetism. The discovery will make our future more resourceful as the scientists have found magnetism in the three layers of graphene. Now, the electronic devices as well as in other applications, this theory can be used which will be a great help for the digital world that has moulded our lives into something better.

THE STRUCTURE

Graphene being an allotrope of carbon is two-dimensional structure which forms a vertex. The structure of graphene is a bit different of that of graphite but the density of the electrons can be easily changed with the help of a transistor. Then the wave nature of the graphene can be easily observed and further studies can be made. The speed of electrons in graphene is higher comparatively than other metals like copper. They can cover a distance of 10micrometre. Well, to the common masses, this distance is almost less than 10 times the diameter of a human hair. When you place the graphene in between boron nitride, you get to listen to the whispers what the scientists say. The layers of the boron nitride which has some defects cause some sort of hindrance in the flow of electrons.

THE RESULT

As the imperfections in the structure lead to whispers which means that the electrons are talking to one another in the structure. Well, the study reveals a great deal on how to use the magnetism that has been shown by these electrons when they were sandwiched at a temperature of -272 degree Celsius. The three levels of graphene holding such an important and massive property will not only be helpful in the field of electronics but will also have a huge impact in the nature and the natural resources for the years to come. This wonderful and astonishing discovery was done by the renowned professors at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

WHY GRAPHENE

Graphene holds some extra ordinary properties which have made it to make an edge over extra atoms or semiconductors as well as other allotropes of carbon. Well, given the credit for the properties of graphene, it is the lightest, strongest and also a good conductor of heat and electricity. It is thinnest as well which makes the scientists do the research in the most convenient manner.

THE FUTURE

Graphene promises to bring a revolution in the years to come with its outstanding features. From the field of computers to the area of car tires, it promises to change everything with its remarkable characteristics. Well, the magnetism property has just added to the feature basket. Now, we need to wait for the applications where this property may come handy. But one thing is pretty secured, that the chemical industries, automobile industry as well as the electronics industry are going to be benefitted a lot from this allotrope.

New Graphene Based Transistor Will Increase the Clock Speed of Processors

New Kind of Graphene Based Transistor – Ultralow Power Consumption

A new kind of Graphene based transistor has been developed by scientists and utilising modelling has demonstrated that it has extremelylow power consumption when compared to the other related transistor devices. The most essential effect in reducing power consumption is that it permits the speed of the processors of the clock to increase. As per calculations, the upsurge could be as high as two orders of magnitude. The results had been published in a paper in the journal Scientific Reports. The fact is not much on saving electricity, we tend to have plenty of electrical energy.

According to the corresponding author of the study, the head of MIPT’s Laboratory of Optoelectronics and Two-Dimensional Materials, Dmitry Svintsov, electronic components tend to heat less at a lower power, which means that they are capable of operating at higher clock speed and not one gigahertz, though ten for instance, or also one hundred. Building transistors which tend to be capable of switching at low voltages could be one of the highest challenges of modern electronics. The most promising candidate in solving this problem is tunnel transistors.

Electrons Filters through Barrier – Effect of Quantum Tunnelling

Contrasting from the conventional transistors, where the electrons seems to jump through the barrier of energy, in the case of tunnel transistors, the electrons filters through the barrier owing to the effect of quantum tunnelling. But in the case of most of the semiconductors, the tunnelling current seems to be very minor which tends to stop transistors which are based on these materials from being utilised in real circuits.

The scientists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology – MIPT, the Institute of Physics and Technology RAS and Tohoku University – Japan, the authors of the article had proposed a new design for a tunnel transistor centred on bilayer graphene and on utilising modelling, had proved that this material seemed to be an appropriate platform for low-voltage electronics. Graphene, created by MIPT graduates Sir Andre Geim and Sir Konstantin Novoselov, is said to be a sheet of carbon which is one iota thick.

Bilayer Graphene – Two Sheets of Graphene

Since it has two dimensions, the properties of graphene inclusive of its electronic properties tend to be radically different to three –dimensional carbon-graphite.Svintsov has stated that `bilayer graphene is said to be two sheets of graphene which are connected to one another with ordinary covalent bonds. However, owing to unique structure of electronic bands, it tends to be extremely favourable material for low voltage tunnelling switches’.

Bands of bilayer graphene, for instance, the permissible energy levels of an electron at a particular significance of momentum tends to be in the shape of a Mexican hat, It seems that the density of electrons which can occupy spaces close to the edges of the Mexican hat seems to infinity which is known as van Hove singularity. On the application of a only a very small voltage to the gate of a transistor, a large number of electrons begin to tunnel at the same time at the edges of the Mexican hat which causes a sharp change in current from the application of small voltage. This is the reason of low voltage for the record low power consumption.

Graphene Microphone Could Pick Up Sounds beyond Human Hearing

Graphene Designed Microphone – Amazing Detection Quality

Latest designed microphone of graphene which is 32 times more sensitive than conventional microphones have been invented by researchers which has amazing sound detection qualities. Graphene which is one of the thinnest, lightest, strongest as well as the most conductive materials ever known comprises of a single layer of carbon atoms that are arranged in a honeycomb structure.

Its adaptability enables it to support possibly a wide variety of application in electronics which include flexible displays, wearable and other next-generation electronic devices. Having the strength of some of the present day best microphones, graphene based devices has the potential to detect a range of audible frequencies. As per a paper published by the University of Belgrade in Serbia in the journal 2D materials, the microphone membrane is said to be built by amassing 60 layers, which is a single layer of carbon atoms in hexagonal pattern.

 It substitutes nickel, a traditional material for commercial microphones. Author of the paper, Marko Spasenovic, informed Engineering and Technology magazine that they wanted to show that graphene though a relatively new material has the capability for real world application. Known for its light weight, high mechanical strength as well as flexibility, graphene can be utilised as an acoustic membrane material’.

Development in Infancy Stage

While the development is at its infancy stage, the graphene microphone tends to pick up sounds at 15 decibels level which is higher than the commercial devices at frequencies of up to 11 kHz. A virtual microphone of 300 layers of graphene was then stimulated by the researchers instead of the 60 layered one which they had already built and found that the enhanced version had the potential of picking up sounds at ultrasonic frequencies up to 1 MHz, 50 times greater than the upper limit of human hearing at 20 KHz.

 Due to their research, scientists are of the belief that this is only the beginning for the graphene based microphone. This technology could be utilised to pick up sounds which we presently cannot hear like bats chirping or to converse through materials such as steel that electromagnetic waves are unable to penetrate. Layers of graphene onto nickel foil were grown by the researcher and later the nickel was removed leaving only the graphene behind. Thereafter the graphene sheet was then placed in a conventional microphone where it acted as a diaphragm, a membrane which tends to pick up sound vibrations.

Limiting Aspect of Commercial Graphene Microphone – Cost

Main limiting aspect in the creation of a commercial graphene microphone is the cost and seems to be excessively expensive to manufacture large sheets of graphene. Marko Spasenovic has stated that at this stage, there seems to be several hurdles in making cheap graphene and hence the microphone should be considered more of proof of concept and the industry are working hard in improving graphene production. Ultimately we could have better microphones at lower cost.

 The researchers across the globe are presently attempting to bring down the cost of graphene production. At Manchester University, a £61, National Graphene Institute had been opened in March 2015 where the `wonder material’ was initially isolated. There have been over 11,300 graphene related patents, all over the world. Several applications have been defined for a variety of technologies right from super strong bendy mobile phone screens to quicker computer chips as well as broadband and revolutionary and high performance batteries.

Wonder Material Could Harvest Energy from Thin Air

Graphene – Most Innovative Advance in Battery Technology

Claims for new battery technology have been all over the place since the development of lead acid battery for over 150 years. Researchers however, at Manchester University in UK, state that their discovery regarding the new material graphene would be the most innovative advance in battery technology.

As per study which had been published in the journal Nature, graphene membranes could be utilised in sieving hydrogen gas from the atmosphere, an improvement which could make way for electric generators powered by air.

Post-doctoral researchers in the project, Dr Sheng Hu commented that it seems extremely simple and promising since graphene can be produced in square metre sheets and they hope that it would find its way to commercial fuel cells sooner than later.

At the core of technology is the physical properties of graphene which is an element having the same atomic assembly as the lead which is present in the household pencil. Graphene already very popular as a technological game changer, however was isolated in 2004 by a group from Manchester University ledby Andrew Geim and Kostya Novoseloy, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics for their discovery in 2010.

Lightest/Thinnest/Strongest Harder than Diamond

Graphene is the lightest, thinnest and the strongest object obtained and the first two dimensional crystal known to science. Moreover, it is harder than diamond and about 200 times stronger than steel. Being transparent and flexible in conducting electricity much better than copper, this substance is set to transform from smartphones and wearable technology to green technology as well as medicine.

Known for its barrier qualities, it is about an atom thick and more than a million times thinner than a human hair. With the latest discovery, graphene is smart for probable usage in proton conducting membranes that is at the heart of modern fuel cell technology.

Fuel cell tends to function by using hydrogen and oxygen for fuel, converting the chemical energy created by its input into electricity directly. But present membrane that tend to discrete protons essential for the process are comparatively incompetent, enabling contamination in the crossover of fuel.

Hydrogen Acquired Entirely from Fossil Fuels

Graphene membranes can boost their durability as well as efficiency. The team discovered that the protons passed through the ultra-thin crystals with relative ease especially at increased temperatures as well as with the utilization of platinum based catalyst covered on the membrane film.

The amazing feature of the research is that the membranes could be utilised in extracting hydrogen from the atmosphere wherein the scientist believed that such harvesting could be joined with fuel cells in creating a mobile electric generator fuelled by hydrogen present in the air. According to the scientist, it is a simple setup when one knows how it should work.

You could put a hydrogen containing gas on one side and apply a small electric current to collect pure hydrogen on the other side and this hydrogen could then be burned in a fuel cell. They had worked with small membranes and had achieved the flow of hydrogen tough tiny.

 However, this is the initial state of discovery and the paper is to bring about an awareness of the prevailing prospects, among experts. Further efforts would be needed to build up and test hydrogen harvesters and presently hydrogen is acquired entirely from fossil fuels.

Graphene Made Superconductive by Doping with Lithium Atoms

In today’s scientific world, there is nothing that can surprise you anymore. This is because of the fact that the scientists have been making a lot of improvisations in the world of physics as in every other field. And that is the reason as to why you will be glad to know about the new sort of superconductor. According to the recent research, grapheme has now been discovered to be the best possible superconductor if it is doped with the right proportion of Lithium atoms as then the charge transfer rate becomes even higher than it formerly used to be. But in order to know more of it, you definitely need to read this up.

How is it made possible? 

Graphene is the single carbon atom layer of the same kind of material that has been subjected to the tests as to how it can be connected to a number of devices all at a go. In this case, a thought has been subjected as to how the thing can be evolved to have the best out of its super electrical properties and its super conducting phenomena as well. Formerly it was found that if Graphene was coated with some other materials, then it could serve an even better purpose than it formerly did but the scientists could not figure out what it is. The finally after years of research it has been brought out that if lithium can be used, then it may turn out to be just the thing that is required to get hold of the desired effect.

The process 

In order to bring out the result, what the scientists did is to have samples of the right kind of Graphene and that too on a Silicon Carbide substrate- then the samples were kept in a vacuum area and cooled to 8K. When that was done, the samples were then accessorised with the lithium atoms and then the results turned out to be really amazing.

In this way, the energy gap of the electrons could be reduced to a great extent. Now the scientists are probing deeper and conducting further tests as to whether it is possible to have a complete loss of electrical resistance which i turn will enhance the power of the superconductor and serve the purpose in an even better way. In case of further demonstrations, amends will be made in order to see whether the superconductor can actually expel the external magnetic field and that is the test that will reveal that it is a true sort of superconductor.

It was at first theoretically proposed that if the right sort of lithium could be used up as a doping material, then it could bring about positive results. But the recent researches have revealed that it is something more than it and is indeed a grand thing that has come up and this superconductor can be used in a lot of fields as because of its multi faceted manner of working.

Scientists Predict Green Energy Revolution after Incredible New Graphene Discovery

Graphene – Positively Charged Hydrogen Atoms/Protons

It has been discovered by researchers that graphene enables positively charged hydrogen atoms or proton to pass through it inspite of being completely impermeable to other gases inclusive of hydrogen. Recently discovered is a type of carbon graphite, the material in a pencil lead, having unexpected properties that could create a revolution in the development of green energy and electric cars.

According to scientist, the implications are immense since it could increase the efficiency of the fuel cells generating electricity directly from hydrogen. This breakthrough has brought about an expectation on the prospect of extracting hydrogen fuel from air and burns it as a carbon free source of energy in fuel cell in order to produce electricity as well as water without any damaging waste products.

There is some amount of hydrogen in the atmosphere which ends up on the other side in a reservoir and this hydrogen collected in the reservoir can be used to burn it in the same fuel cell in making electricity according to Professor Sir Andrei Geim of Manchester University. Since the discovery, ten years ago, graphene has amazed the scientisit which is the thinnest known material, million times thinner than human hairbut more than 200 times stronger than steel as well as the best conductor of electricity in the world.

Permeable to Protons

Till date, being permeable to protons was not taken into consideration as a practical possibility but Sir Andre’s international team of scientists who shares the 2010 Nobel Prize for his work on graphene has shown that the one atom thick crystal acts as a chemical filter which enables the free passage of protons but forms an impenetrable barrier to other atoms and molecules.

Sir Andre states that `there have been three or four scientific papers before about the theoretical predictions on how easy or how hard it would be for a proton to go through graphene and these calculations give numbers that take billions and billions of years for a proton to go through this same membrane. It is just so dense an electronic field it just doesn’t let anything through. But it is a question of numbers, no more than that and this makes a difference between billions of years and a reasonable time for permeation. There is no magic’.

Graphene Tough and Light 

Graphene being tough and stronger than steel is incredibly light and is considered the first two dimensional material since it forms sheets of crystal which are one atom thick. Besides it is also a good conductor of electricity and is useful for anything related to electronics, like bendable mobile phones, camera and wearable electrical devices attached to clothing.

Moreover, Graphene is also being utilised as a new material for membrane connected in separating liquids and could be used in purifying water in the developing world or also to create efficient desalination plants. Scientists are of the opinion that graphene’s high strength together with the low weight could be harnessed for new composite material and polymers for the transport industry making travel much safer and fuel efficient and it seems that graphene could also be used to generate upgraded type of generating clean electricity with the use of hydrogen fuel cells as well as technology in harvesting hydrogen fuel from air.