Scientists develop cost-effective technology to convert cooking oil into Graphene which is 200 times stronger than steel

Scientists from CSIRO (Commonwealth scientific and Industrial Research organization), Australia have now found a way to convert the cooking oil into Graphene. The technique also reduces the cost involved in making the nanomaterial. Earlier researchers have succeeded in awakening the hidden superconductivity of graphene in its natural state.

What is Graphene?

Graphene is a single sheet of carbon atoms that is highly flexible, harder than diamond and even 200 times stronger than steel. It can be converted into superconductor under certain conditions which conduct electricity with zero resistance. Graphene has potential applications in the field of electronics and medicine.

However, the manufacture of graphene is very costly as it has to be made under intense heat using purified ingredients in a vacuum. So that is the prime reason Graphene is still restricted to the labs. But the new method adopted by the Australian scientists is cost effective and Graphene is made under normal room conditions. The team has named the new technology as GraphAir technology.

What is the GraphAir Technique?

• The technique involves heating the soyabean oil in a tube furnace for 30 minutes
• As a result, carbon decomposes into carbon building blocks
• The carbon is allowed to cool in a foil made of Nickel
• Then the carbon diffuses into thin rectangle of Graphene that measures 1-nanometre thickness 
• The Graphene so produced is 80,000 times thinner than a normal hair.

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So the next question arises about the probability of production of graphene on a commercial scale. Graphene film produced by this method measured 5 cm (1.9 inches) by 2 cm (0.8 inches) in size. According to scientists, they are able to create graphene to a maximum size of credit card. To make graphene for commercial use they have to produce films that are much larger than that produced in the lab. For this purpose, the team is now looking for commercial partners to make this a possibility.

The Research study has been published in the Journal Nature Communications

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