Variable Thermal Conductivity in Graphene

[How2FoldSoup]

Source: http://www.mpip-mainz.mpg.de/news/thermal_conductivity

I think it's incredible that there is a material that can have this property. Graphene already has so much potential for new and better electronics and now this. Graphene seems almost too good to be true. I'm curious, besides heatsinks, how could this property along with its other properties be used in possible applications. It seems as though there are boundless possibilities enabled by this one material.

Stronger than steel, lighter, incredible electrical conductance, and now this. What about graphene's structure makes this possible? I understand it has something to do with how the atoms are arranged but my chemistry isn't so great :S

Also, what are the issues stopping us from widespread use of graphene? Is it the difficulty of fabrication on an industrial scale?

Thanks for humoring me and my questions

[R0cketC0der]

Yeah, production of it is pretty expensive compared to conventional materials. Also graphene isn't known for a long time and humans tend to have more trust in older things that are proven to work reliably than new stuff.

And I think understanding why this is possible is about physics, not chemistry.

[How2FoldSoup]

Yeah, production of it is pretty expensive compared to conventional materials. Also graphene isn't known for a long time and humans tend to have more trust in older things that are proven to work reliably than new stuff.

And I think understanding why this is possible is about physics, not chemistry.

~60 years isn't too long and look what silicon has done to our lives...I don't think it will be too long until production ramps up and the costs fall as we discover more about it and fabrication technology advances.

It's a bit of both really which is why I labeled the topic as physics. I understand that electron holes and conductivity are physics related but I guess I considered how atoms are arranged as a molecule to be chemistry. It feels like semantics more than anything.

[lajoswinkler]

The topic is physical chemistry. It's more about chemistry than physics. Most of chemistry is exactly problems like this.

[Scotius]

Graphene heat radiators for space ships and bases

[YNM]