Jul 22 2009

Graphene: The Miracle Material

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

Last month, NEXT100 profiled the miracle material graphene, a crystalline form of carbon only one atom thick yet that is the strongest material ever discovered. Its many astounding applications include ultrafast transistors, super-high capacity ultracapacitors, solar-cell electrodes and light-emitting diodes.

The cliche "the sky is the limit" applies literally to graphene. A group of Princeton engineers has just won a $3 million grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research to study the potential of nanoscale graphene additives to help aviation fuel burn faster so jets can fly more easily at supersonic speeds. 

Tiny amounts of graphene help fuel ignite at lower temperatures, a property that could also help diesel engines run more efficiently and reduce their pollution.

Said Ilhan Aksay, a professor of chemical engineering at Princeton and lead investigator, "The idea of being able to put in a very small quantity and have such a dramatic effect is important....Right now we don't know what actual reactions enhance the combustion rates when the particles are added to fuels. If we understand it further, we can make it more effective."

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