Graphene: what it is and the industrial applications for which it will be used

Graphene is among the materials that have most revolutionized the scientific world during the last decade and will revolutionize major industrial and consumer applications in the near future. It is in fact the thinnest material known to man, consisting of a single layer of two-dimensional carbon atoms. The characteristics of graphene are truly amazing, and a scientific treatise would not be enough to describe them all; suffice it to say that its discovery won the 2010 Nobel Prize for scientists who brought it to light.

A bit of history. How was Graphene discovered?

Graphene was discovered more or less unintentionally in a British laboratory in 2004 by two Russian physicists. The aim was to obtain increasingly thin graphite structures. The method by which the two scientists arrived at their discovery, using 'scotch tape' with which they removed layer after layer of surface graphite, has become famous.

The discovery of Graphene made it possible to win the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for 'pioneering experiments on the two-dimensional material graphene'. The study of this material has been intensified and there are now a large number of laboratories around the world totally dedicated to research into Graphene.

Among the most interesting and advanced research programmes are the Graphene Flagship Project, European research, innovation and collaboration project on Graphene with the aim of increasing shared knowledge of this incredible material.

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Graphene: what it is and possible applications

We have previously highlighted one of the primary characteristics of Graphene, its extreme thinness. In fact, Graphene can be considered as a single sheet of carbon atoms where each individual sheet is as thick as a carbon atom.

This material is so rich in peculiarities that it is destined to revolutionise a wide list of manufacturing sectors: electronics, aeronautics, medicine, construction, lighting, IT and more.

What are the technical properties of Graphene?

OPTICAL PROPERTIES

Thanks to its extremely thin thickness of around 0.3 nanometres and the arrangement of carbon atoms, Graphene absorbs only 2.3% of light radiation, so its photo-absorbing capacity is incredible and it could be used as a transparent electrode.

THERMAL PROPERTIES

A single carbon molecule cannot conduct heat particularly well, but the same does not apply to graphene. The particular arrangement of the carbon sheet allows Graphene to have an excellent degree of thermal conductivity at room temperature, which is even higher than for carbon nanotubes and copper.

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

Thanks to its honeycomb structure, typical of carbon molecules, Graphene is extremely strong and lightweight. According to some research, one square metre of Graphene can support 4 kg.

A specific case of application: the graphene-based embedded PC

Among Digimax's innovative series of embedded PCs, one of AAEON's most interesting solutions is the BOXER-6641-Pro, a rugged industrial PC that uses Graphene as a thermal dissipation component. In addition to outstanding technical features such as the use of ninth and eighth generation Intel® Core™ processors and incredible computing performance, this hardware uses Graphene to significantly increase thermal capacity and thus improve reliability in critical conditions.

By adopting Graphene within the thermal design, BOXER-6641-Pro increases the degree of heat dissipation and breaks new ground in the world of industrial design. Here are some technical specifications:

• Wide Operating Temperature -40~70°C with “Graphene” Chassis for Extreme Computing Power & Graphic Display Capability
• Supports DDR4 ECC or Non-ECC SODIMM, Up to 64GB
• Supports HDMI x 2 Dual Display
• Supports Intel® GbE LAN x 4 (i211 x 3 + i219 x 1)
• Wide Range DC 10~35V Input

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