Graphene reaches high pressures
Scientists at the University of Manchester, UK, have reported that small balloons made of graphene can withstand enormous pressures, higher than those at the bottom of the ocean.
Graphene balloons – or ‘nano-bubbles’ – routinely form when placing the one-atom thick ‘wonder material’ on flat substrates. They are usually considered a nuisance and therefore ignored.
However, Manchester researchers, led by Professor Irina Grigorieva, took a closer look at the nano-bubbles and have now revealed their “fascinating” properties.
Grigorieva and her team found that these bubbles could be created intentionally to make tiny machines capable of withstanding enormous pressures.
This could be a significant step towards rapidly detecting how molecules react under extreme pressure.
Sir Andre Geim, co-discoverer of graphene and co-author of the paper, said: “Those balloons are ubiquitous. One can now start thinking about creating them intentionally to change enclosed materials or study the properties of atomically thin membranes under high strain and pressure.”
The researchers discovered that such balloons could also be created with other two-dimensional crystals such as single layers of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) or boron nitride.
Ekaterina Khestanova, a PhD student who carried out the experiments, said: “Such pressures are enough to modify the properties of a material trapped inside the bubbles and, for example, can force crystallisation of a liquid well-above its normal freezing temperature.”
Graphene research is funded by the Future and Emerging Technologies pillar under the EU’s horizon 2020 framework programme.
