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Thursday, 1st March 2007 (5646 views)

Gold 'scaffolding' has been found to play an integral role in relation to the substance graphene and its application in both computers and medicine.

Previously, graphene could only be produced when it was mixed with another material but new research has discovered that by adding it in between nanoscale bars of gold scaffolding, the thinnest material in the world could now be manufactured on a large scale as it has been shown to work.

To highlight how thin the material actually is, the layers of graphene along with the gold scaffolding are each 200,000 times thinner than a human hair.

Professor Andre Geim, of the University of Manchester who worked alongside the Max Planck Institute in Germany to carry out the research, stated: "This is a completely new type of technology. Even nanotechnology is not the right word to describe these new membranes."

Professor Geim added that a "real challenge" would now be faced in order to roll out the new technology en masse.

Surprising to scientists is that it was believed a two-dimensional crystal would instantly be destroyed when subjected to heat.

Graphene is a relatively new phenomenon with the molecule only discovered by scientists in 2004. It was described at the time to the BBC by Professor Laurence Eaves, semi-conductor expert from the University of Nottingham as "one of the most exciting" finds in a "decade".

 

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