'Wonder material' graphene could revolutionize cell phones, solar panels and more

New American Chemical Society video

2012-10-09

(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON, October 8, 2012 — Smart phones almost as thin and flexible as paper and virtually unbreakable. Solar panels molded to cover the surface of an electric or hybrid car. Possible treatments for damaged spinal cords. It's not science fiction. Those all are possible applications of a material known as graphene. This so-called "wonder material," the world's strongest (100 times stronger than steel) and thinnest (one ounce would cover 28 football fields), is the focus of a new episode of the ChemMatters video series. The video is at www.BytesizeScience.com.

The video, from the award-winning Digital Services Unit in the American Chemical Society (ACS) Office of Public Affairs, explains how graphene's incredible properties originate from the unique arrangement of its atoms. ACS is the world's largest scientific society.

Like diamonds and coal, graphene is made up entirely of carbon. But unlike those materials, graphene's carbon atoms are arranged in two-dimensional sheets, making it incredibly strong and flexible. Since graphene also conducts electricity as well as copper, it could lead to flexible cell phone touchscreens and transparent, inexpensive solar cells. Ongoing advances in manufacturing graphene are bringing these and other devices closer to reality.

### The video is based on an article in the latest issue of ChemMatters, ACS' quarterly magazine for high school students, and was produced by the team behind ACS' award-winning Bytesize Science videos.

ChemMatters has been connecting chemistry to our everyday lives for the past 28 years. Published quarterly by the ACS Office of High School Chemistry, each issue contains articles about the chemistry of everyday life and is of interest to high school students and their teachers.

For additional entertaining video podcasts from ACS, go to www.bytesizescience.com. The Bytesize Science series is produced by the ACS Office of Public Affairs.

Other science videos and podcasts from the ACS Office of Public Affairs include Prized Science, Spellbound, Science Elements and Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 164,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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'Wonder material' graphene could revolutionize cell phones, solar panels and more

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