Graphene to shape future

In Context

The 21st century seems to become the age of graphene.

About Graphene 

• It is a two-dimensional form (allotrope) of carbon that consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. 
• Properties: It is the world’s thinnest, strongest, and most conductive material of both electricity and heat. 
  • It conducts electricity better than copper.
  • It is 200 times stronger than steel but six times lighter. It is almost perfectly transparent as it absorbs only 2% of light.
  • It is impermeable to gases, even those as light as hydrogen and helium. 

Applications and Potential

• Graphene composites are used in automotive, sports equipment and construction. 
• It is used for high-performance batteries and super-capacitors, touchscreens, and conductive inks. 
• Graphene-based sensors are used for environmental monitoring, healthcare and wearable devices. 
• Graphene oxide membranes are used for water purification and desalination.
• Graphene-based masks were made during COVID.
• Graphene is important for defence and aerospace as well. Its exceptional strength makes it a promising material for armour and ballistic protection. 
• Graphene has the potential to absorb and dissipate electromagnetic waves, making it valuable for developing stealth coatings and materials that reduce radar signatures and electromagnetic interference. 
• Graphene is highly sensitive to environmental changes, which makes it an excellent candidate for sensing chemical and biological agents, explosives, radiation, and other hazardous substances. 
  • Besides, graphene-based materials can also protect us against chemical and biological attacks. 

Global Leaders 

• Among the leading countries in graphene research are China, the U.S., the U.K., Japan, South Korea, Russia, and Singapore. 
• China and Brazil are global leaders in the commercial production of graphene. 
• In 2018, China filed 218 patents while the other leading countries together filed 79.
  •  India had eight filings.

Indian Scenario

• India’s niche is going to be innovation using graphene. It figured out how graphene oxide-based wrappers loaded with preservatives can increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. 
• India produces about one-twentieth compared to China and one-third compared to Brazil.
• India’s progress has been better than many nations.

Developments 

•  The Centre for Nano Science and Engineering at IISc Bangalore along with KAS Tech produced a graphene-based system several years ago. 
• Some start-ups and foreign subsidiaries have started graphene or graphene derivatives in India. 
• Tata Steel has succeeded in growing graphene (about 50 micrometres large domains) using annealing and extracting atomic carbon from steel surfaces.
  • It has also mixed graphene with used plastic products to recycle them as new.
• The IIT Roorkee-incubated Log 9 has patented a technology for graphene-based ultracapacitors, and the IIT Kanpur-incubated RF Nanocomposites has developed EMI shielding and stealth technology using graphene-based nanotubes. But this trickle needs to be converted into a torrent. 
• A laudable step in this direction was the setting up of the India Innovation Centre for Graphene in Kerala. 

Issues and Challenges

• Given the high cost-to-volume ratio for high-grade graphene, its production may get concentrated in a few locations in the world, as in the case of semiconductors. 
• Although graphene was discovered in 2004, it was difficult to produce high-grade large-scale graphene.

Way Ahead 

• India needs to catch up in the research and production of graphene, which is the defining material of this age
• The Centre needs to become the nodal point to spur large-scale innovation activity around graphene.
  • A nodal Ministry needs to be entrusted with this responsibility; else the subject will fall through the cracks. India needs to be among the leaders in graphene because we may experience the ‘winner takes the most’ situation here. 
• India missed the semiconductor bus in the mid-1990s. The time to step on the graphene pedal is now.
  • Governments have a crucial role to play. 

Source: TH