The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, now both at the University of Manchester, for studying single atom-thick sheets of carbon, called graphene. And what may that have to do with energy or environment??
Plenty.
Graphene sheets, thin enough to be called "two-dimensional" they exhibit quantum mechanical properties, and conduct electricity as well as copper, conduct heat better than any other known material, and are so dense that they can block helium atoms.
Among applications are ultracapacitors which use graphene fins for even more speed, since the fins let charge on and off faster than other carbon tangles. This speed could allow portable electronics to shrink in size and weight.
A UCLA team built the fastest graphene transistor yet, a proof-of-concept device that switched twice as fast (300 gigahertz) as similar devices. Some hope graphene might prove a faster alternative to silicon chips in future circuits.
New ways of thinking, new materials, new sources will be the touchstone of an energy secure green world.
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