Sam Brusco, Associate Editor03.07.17
Quick—name the allotrope of carbon that takes the form of a two-dimensional, atomic scale, hexagonal lattice in which one atom forms each vertex.
Not ringing any bells? Perhaps another hint, then. This material is widely regarded to have enormous potential in medicine, with possible applications including bone implants, non-invasive blood sugar monitoring, painless drug delivery, and MRI contrast agents that target specific tissues, among many others. Its three-dimensional form is commonly found in pencils, and it can be “manufactured” by drawing on a piece of paper and removing the writing layer by layer with a piece of scotch tape.
Figured it out yet? Why, it’s graphene, of course!
The funny thing is graphene has unintentionally been produced in small amounts for centuries, using pencils or other graphite applications. Originally spotted in electron microscopes in 1962, it was later rediscovered, isolated, and characterized in 2004. However, the discovery was also anything but intentional. One Friday, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, two University of Manchester scientists, removed some flakes from a chunk of graphite with sticky tape. They realized that some of the flakes were thinner than others, and by repeat separations were able to create flakes one atom thick. (It is because of this one-atom thickness that graphene is widely considered to be “two-dimensional.”)
Since its discovery, graphene has revealed some truly astonishing material properties. It is incredibly light but immensely tough—200 times stronger than steel, according to the University of Manchester. Despite this robust nature, however, graphene remains quite flexible. It is also an excellent conductor and provides a perfect barrier; not even helium can pass through it. These properties make graphene a promising candidate for next-generation wearable biomedical sensors that are both flexible and highly conductive.
Researchers have been experimenting with graphene for a number of biomedical applications. University of Illinois at Chicago scientists recently interfaced brain cells onto graphene, showing that a single hyperactive cancerous cell could be differentiated from a normal cell. Researchers from AMBER, the Science Foundation Ireland-funded materials science research center, combined graphene with silly putty (“G-putty”) to create a sensor extremely responsive to strain and pressure. The G-putty was mounted onto the chest and neck of human subjects and was able to measure breathing, pulse, and even blood pressure.
To read the full version of this article, access it in the Medtech Materials eBook where it appears in its entirety along with other fantastic and useful articles on related topics, available now. Click here to access the eBook.
Not ringing any bells? Perhaps another hint, then. This material is widely regarded to have enormous potential in medicine, with possible applications including bone implants, non-invasive blood sugar monitoring, painless drug delivery, and MRI contrast agents that target specific tissues, among many others. Its three-dimensional form is commonly found in pencils, and it can be “manufactured” by drawing on a piece of paper and removing the writing layer by layer with a piece of scotch tape.
Figured it out yet? Why, it’s graphene, of course!
The funny thing is graphene has unintentionally been produced in small amounts for centuries, using pencils or other graphite applications. Originally spotted in electron microscopes in 1962, it was later rediscovered, isolated, and characterized in 2004. However, the discovery was also anything but intentional. One Friday, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, two University of Manchester scientists, removed some flakes from a chunk of graphite with sticky tape. They realized that some of the flakes were thinner than others, and by repeat separations were able to create flakes one atom thick. (It is because of this one-atom thickness that graphene is widely considered to be “two-dimensional.”)
Since its discovery, graphene has revealed some truly astonishing material properties. It is incredibly light but immensely tough—200 times stronger than steel, according to the University of Manchester. Despite this robust nature, however, graphene remains quite flexible. It is also an excellent conductor and provides a perfect barrier; not even helium can pass through it. These properties make graphene a promising candidate for next-generation wearable biomedical sensors that are both flexible and highly conductive.
Researchers have been experimenting with graphene for a number of biomedical applications. University of Illinois at Chicago scientists recently interfaced brain cells onto graphene, showing that a single hyperactive cancerous cell could be differentiated from a normal cell. Researchers from AMBER, the Science Foundation Ireland-funded materials science research center, combined graphene with silly putty (“G-putty”) to create a sensor extremely responsive to strain and pressure. The G-putty was mounted onto the chest and neck of human subjects and was able to measure breathing, pulse, and even blood pressure.
To read the full version of this article, access it in the Medtech Materials eBook where it appears in its entirety along with other fantastic and useful articles on related topics, available now. Click here to access the eBook.
