Another story regarding Graphene

[spacemaverick]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39482342

By Paul Rincon
Science editor, BBC News website

A UK-based team of researchers has created a graphene-based sieve capable of removing salt from seawater.  The sought-after development could aid the millions of people without ready access to clean drinking water.  The promising graphene oxide sieve could be highly efficient at filtering salts, and will now be tested against existing desalination membranes.

It has previously been difficult to manufacture graphene-based barriers on an industrial scale.  Reporting their results in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, scientists from the University of Manchester, led by Dr Rahul Nair, show how they solved some of the challenges by using a chemical derivative called graphene oxide.



Interesting use for graphene.  Turn the water shortage into a non-water shortage maybe?  THE REST OF THE STORY AT ABOVE LINK.

[Eighthman]

Excellent news, if they can get it to be practical. We need a lot more gamechangers.

[The Seeker]

Very good, Mav; a couple years back we had a thread on a back pack filtration system that (the developer of) was reportedly going to distribute to villages across Africa and other drought stricken areas to facilitate them having access to clean drinking water...

This will bear watching as it unfolds; hopefully it will be a convenient and cost effective development that will benefit many...

Seeker

[spacemaverick]

I'll try to stay on the story.  The potential for graphene is enormous in my opinion.

[The Seeker]

From Wiki-pedia:

Graphene (/ˈɡræf.iːn/)[1][2] is an allotrope of carbon in the form of a two-dimensional, atomic-scale, hexagonal lattice in which one atom forms each vertex. It is the basic structural element of other allotropes, including graphite, charcoal, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. It can be considered as an indefinitely large aromatic molecule, the ultimate case of the family of flat polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Graphene has many unusual properties. It is about 200 times stronger than the strongest steel. It efficiently conducts heat and electricity and is nearly transparent.[3] Graphene shows a large and nonlinear diamagnetism,[4] greater than graphite and can be levitated by neodymium magnets.

Scientists have theorized about graphene for years. It has unintentionally been produced in small quantities for centuries, through the use of pencils and other similar graphite applications. It was originally observed in electron microscopes in 1962, but it was studied only while supported on metal surfaces.[5] The material was later rediscovered, isolated, and characterized in 2004 by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at the University of Manchester.[6][7] Research was informed by existing theoretical descriptions of its composition, structure, and properties.[8] This work resulted in the two winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene."[9]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene

Very interesting material...



Seeker

[micjer]

I have heard it said the next war would be over water. If this technology pans out, perhaps it won't be.

Very encouraging information