Graphene to revolutionise low carbon energy?
It’s the thinnest known material, yet more than 200 times stronger than steel, as well as being the world’s best conductor of electricity; Professor Sir Andrei Geim of Manchester University now believes that it will revolutionise the development of green energy and electric vehicles. Its ability to allow hydrogen atoms to pass through it, despite being completely impermeable to all other gases, means that it could dramatically increase the efficiency of electricity-generating fuel cells. This would mean that hydrogen fuel from air could be taken and burnt in a fuel cell as a carbon-free source of energy.
In their scientific paper, the researchers speculate that there could be many applications in the field of hydrogen fuel cells and in technology for collecting hydrogen gas from the atmosphere, which would open up an incredible new source of clean energy. Graphene could really be the super-material of the future; from uses as diverse as drug delivery, to membrane-based water purification and composite construction – its applications appear endless.