On the 5th of October, the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Professor André Geim and Professor Konstantin Novoselov, at the University of Manchester, for their ground breaking work on graphene.
It might sound simplistic but the two scientists extracted the super-thin material from a piece of graphite such as that found in ordinary pencils, using adhesive tape to obtain a flake that was only one atom thick.
Speaking to New Scientist magazine, Professor Geim said: "Everything in our three-dimensional world has a width, length and height. That was what we thought, at least. But this picture overlooks a whole class of materials: crystals one atom or molecule thick, essentially two-dimensional planes of atoms shaved from conventional crystals.These are turning out to be wonder materials. Take graphene, the single layers of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice that my colleagues and I first isolated in 2004. Graphene is stronger and stiffer than diamond, yet can be stretched by a quarter of its length, like rubber. Its surface area is the largest known for its weight. Despite graphene's thinness it is impermeable to gases or liquids. It conducts heat and electricity better than copper, and can be made into transistors which are faster than those made from silicon. It makes possible experiments with high-speed quantum particles that researchers at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, can only dream of. With such an array of properties, there are high hopes for what we might accomplish with graphene. Optimists say we are entering a carbon age. Even pessimists argue only that the impact will be somewhat less."
The prize of 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.5 million), awarded by the Nobel Committee for Physics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, was the second of this year's Nobel prizes.
Professor Robert Edwards, the scientist who pioneered IVF treatment, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his achievements in the treatment of infertility on Monday, the 4th of October.
For more attend: Printed Electronics & Photovoltaics USA 2010 .
Image: Dr Konstantin Novoselov and Professor Andre Geim
