Researchers from the Nanomaterials by Design Group at University of Oxford, led by professor Nicole Grobert have produced millimetre-sized crystals of high-quality graphene in minutes, using a chemical vapour deposition technique (CVD).
The new method produces 2–3mm graphene crystals in 15 minutes, compared to current process which can take up to 19 hours.
Researchers took a thin film of silica deposited on a platinum foil which when heated, reacts to create a layer of platinum silicide. This layer melts at a lower temperature than platinum and silica to create a thin liquid layer that smooth’s out nanoscale ‘valleys’ in the platinum, so that carbon atoms in methane gas brushing the surface form large flakes of graphene.
Grobery, said, ‘Not only can we make millimetre-sized graphene flakes in minutes but this graphene is of a comparable quality to any other methods.’
The team believe the CVD technique could also have additional benefits claiming with a thicker liquid layer to insulate it the graphene might not have to be removed from the substrate before it can be used – an expensive and time consuming process.
Grobert added, ‘Of course a great deal more work is required before we get graphene technology, but we’re now on the cusp of seeing this material make the leap from the laboratory to a manufacturing setting, and we’re keen to work with industrial partners to make this happen.
The researchers hope to develop this technique further and produce flakes of graphene in large wafer-sized sheets.
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Here’s my first entry ever for the @characterdesignchallenge for the June entry : Elemental Guardian! It was the first time I was inspired by the theme and wanted to try something new so I chose uranium. The green and yellow colors are taken from different uses and shapes of the uranium in the industry (green art glassware and yellowcake > uranium reduced to yellow powder).
In a distant future, humankind has accumulated a lot of radioactive waste and buried it safely into the ground. They asked themselves how they would transmit from generation to generation where that dangerous location is and how to avoid it. In order to protect the memory of that place, they created a guardian (with a long lifespan) to ensure that no living being would ever get close to it. The story and character are inspired from a video of Passé Sauvage (French YouTube channel about archeology and history) ❤️ where she questions how to create an eternal memory. Here’s the link for French viewers : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u9e8CIiDXFE
NO FUCKING WAY. THEY USED TO MAKE URANIUM FUCKING DENTURES.
genuinely horrifying!
This is so funny to me. I wonder if this is how the next generation will feel about how many microplastics I swallowed while grinding my teeth on my plastic retainers
aka Asbestos! It heals lung cancer! heals it from 0HP to full health! it causes cancer do not touch do not lick
okay but this is a cool danger rock, it’s a physical carcinogen. As in, it doesn’t poison you into having cancer, it just has little needle-y bits that LITERALLY STIR UP your DNA and break it, and when the cells try to repair their DNA they get it wrong and you get cancer
2. Torbenite
A super pretty danger rock! it’s a uranium ore and releases radon gas for Extra Poison!
3. Hutchinsonite - (Tl,Pb)2As5S9
This danger rock has it all! Lead! arsenic! Thallium! All super toxic! Will legit kill you
seriously don’t lick this one, i’m looking at you, fellow geologists
thallium doesn’t taste like anything so you’re not even getting data, just poisoned
4. Cinnabar (Mercury sulfide)
Can be a very pretty red color! so it was used to make paint. The paint was super toxic.
In addition to being dangerous to your health, it’s also morally dangerous! someone had to mine it (v dangerous) so even owning it feels unethical
5. Stibnite (Antimony sulfide)
people used to make spoons and makeup and shit out of this, the spoons poisoned people who ate with them. It’s kinda pretty but not worth dying over
6. Orpiment (an arsenic sulfide)
Look how pretty it is!!
“Incorrect handling” WILL poison you, that’s fucking arsenic
Honorable mentions:
Malachite, if eaten or… you know ;) (warning: nsfw, THat Post) Galena (lead sulfide), don’t eat it or break the rock and you’ll probably be ok, the dust is the main danger
