Russian scientist win Nobel prize in Phsyics

[Captain Seafort]

the varnish that comes in a plastic bottle like I used to drink in college?

Huh. Sounds like raki.

[Mikey]

Most of the time, it just sounded like trouble.

[Thorin]

In case any of you didn't know, I attend this univesity doing this course, so as you may imagine it was a pretty hectic time when it was announced! Pretty strange thinking that I've unwittingly been in 'their' lab many times and have witnessed first hand how they acquired the most prestigious prize in science. Congratulations Andre and Konstantin!

[Tsukiyumi]

Good to see you back, man.

[Captain Seafort]

Indeed. It's been a long time Thorin.

[Mikey]

I can't even imagine how cool that must have been to watch unfold. And welcome back, Thorin.

[Sionnach Glic]

Welcome back. It's been a while.

[shran]

In case any of you didn't know, I attend this univesity doing this course, so as you may imagine it was a pretty hectic time when it was announced! Pretty strange thinking that I've unwittingly been in 'their' lab many times and have witnessed first hand how they acquired the most prestigious prize in science. Congratulations Andre and Konstantin!

Congratulations on doing that course.
I heard many uiniversities have been trying to get that material, even going so far as to have groups of students take graphite and smear it out in ever thinner layers using tape.
So how did they do it, if explainable to non-physics students?

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Welcome back, Thorin!

[Thorin]

The production of it is actually unbelievably simple - almost comical. They would used sellotape on graphite (ie your pencil lead), and would just peel it off so there's a little bit of graphite on the tape. They'd then use more tape on that graphite, leaving a thinner layer on the new tape; and repeat it loads of times. Then when there's only a thickness of 1 atom left, the tape was dissolved leaving graphene.

Thanks for the welcome guys

[IanKennedy]

The production of it is actually unbelievably simple - almost comical. They would used sellotape on graphite (ie your pencil lead), and would just peel it off so there's a little bit of graphite on the tape. They'd then use more tape on that graphite, leaving a thinner layer on the new tape; and repeat it loads of times. Then when there's only a thickness of 1 atom left, the tape was dissolved leaving graphene.

Thanks for the welcome guys

So just how is it different from plain old graphite?

[Vic]

But, but, it's only ONE ATOM thick!

[Lighthawk]

I think the relevancy of this was based on how strong the stuff was relative to this thickness. I'd say that once they can devise a more suitable method of making it, they could then layer it to produce some kind of super strong yet very lightweight sheets.

[IanKennedy]

But, but, it's only ONE ATOM thick!

Yes, so are the sheets in graphite, what's the advantage of being one atom thick. How does it alter the properties of the material.

[shran]

The production of it is actually unbelievably simple - almost comical. They would used sellotape on graphite (ie your pencil lead), and would just peel it off so there's a little bit of graphite on the tape. They'd then use more tape on that graphite, leaving a thinner layer on the new tape; and repeat it loads of times. Then when there's only a thickness of 1 atom left, the tape was dissolved leaving graphene.

Thanks for the welcome guys

Then how come that several attempts with huge numbers of students armed with sellotape and graphite couldn't do it before? They have been trying for years, haven't they?