There are two distinct use cases spelled out in this article. Electronic and photonic technology incorporating graphene to improve performance and efficiency and "we added graphene to stuff". Graphene cement, graphene carbon fibre - 3000 tons of graphene expected from one company in 2026.
Try not to breathe any, studies are still pending but that stuff gets everywhere.
100 years ago, asbestos was the new wonder material, and "We added asbestos to stuff" was a very common marketing bullet point for building materials. It found its way into flooring, mastic, the predecessors to drywall, ceiling texture, insulation, and anything and everything used near a combustion appliance.
Literally just, take a process that used to use sand or horsehair or whatever filler, and add a significant portion by mass of asbestos powder instead.
>Try not to breathe any, studies are still pending but that stuff gets everywhere.
I would understand such comment in the context of carbon nanotubes or fullerenes, but graphene? Have you forgot that graphite is literally a bunch of stacked graphene?
Considering how much graphite pencils are used across the world, we would've seen hypothetical negative effects already with a high degree of confidence.
Yes, graphene production aims to produce larger sheets, but it only makes graphene less biologically active, not more.
Some amount of graphene gets produced naturally. Graphite mining, processing, dyes, things that use carbon black, soot, etc - monolayer carbon structures are a byproduct of all sorts of things that humans have been exposed to throughout history. Graphene can be decomposed and metabolized; asbestos cannot, it's very stable in all sorts of places where the body cannot process it.
It doesn't mean it's good - it can do damage in the time it's present in various systems in the body, but it's not going to present a chronic, persistent threat like asbestos.
Graphene oxidizes relatively easily, and is vulnerable to all sorts of chemical processes that can attack the edges, and there are all sorts of metabolic pathways that can handle degrading and eliminating carbon. Natural decomposition from graphene in degrading concrete, asphalt, building materials, etc should handle it without any significant health risks, as well.
Some amount of graphene is present in carbon black and ground charcoal that's been used for tattoos for at least 8,000 years (Ötzi had some pretty cool tats) and hasn't presented any significant health threats.
Don't go around inhaling graphene flakes, wear sensible PPE when handling it. Acute exposure is already known to be unhealthy. That said, carbon is processed pretty well by a multitude of organisms and natural chemical processes, making the risk of chronic graphene contamination fairly low. It's a different order of hazard than asbestos entirely, and by all the evidence available so far, carbon fibers are going to be the more dangerous material.
I was studying an advanced degree at a school ~10 years ago and one of the teachers was "a bit" into graphene and they had done all kinds of cool stuff with it.
One example was a floor material for care homes that could detect pressure in a 2D sense, so the floor itself could detect "fall events" and track movement + gait etc.
And I think they had a prototype of a similar thing in Australia that weighed all trucks coming and going from a mine just under the road they drove, no need to stop on weighing stations.
No idea where that went.
Nowadays we'd do the fall detection with either a wrist device (any Apple Watch can do this) or cameras + "AI" detection. The floor is a lot more privacy preserving though, it only detected shapes and pressure.
Difference between concept and implementation I'd assume. Floor material would have to be cheap and/or very durable to be practical in the real world, and installation, replacement/upgrades would cost a lot in time, labour and inconvenience.
Camera on the wall is quick, easy, doesn't have to deal with the wear and tear usage of a floor, and gives a good enough solution for the problem.
didn't know he died... loved his non nonsense straight to the point videos. his video on making graphene with a laser disk had me almost buying an entire graphene lab at one point.
The first trillionaire will be whoever owns the patent on mass producing graphene with controlled properties. I worked on that back in 2006. As far as I can tell no progress has been made.
"What we’ve solved is the ability to grow consistent ultra high-performance graphene and to build it into a device,"
Wait what? If this is actually true this Jensen is going to be the richest/most important. If $500B is being invested in Datacenters and this company is raising a few ten million, something isn't adding up here.
It would seem so. Looking at their website, they're not made out of graphene. For example, their flagship jacket is described as nylon + polyurethane underneath.
It looks like they're using "graphene" as a pigment in the plastic, and I'd wager this probably means "99% conventional black pigment and 1% graphene"...
[+] [-] jakedata|5 months ago|reply
Try not to breathe any, studies are still pending but that stuff gets everywhere.
[+] [-] mapt|5 months ago|reply
Literally just, take a process that used to use sand or horsehair or whatever filler, and add a significant portion by mass of asbestos powder instead.
[+] [-] newpavlov|5 months ago|reply
I would understand such comment in the context of carbon nanotubes or fullerenes, but graphene? Have you forgot that graphite is literally a bunch of stacked graphene?
Considering how much graphite pencils are used across the world, we would've seen hypothetical negative effects already with a high degree of confidence.
Yes, graphene production aims to produce larger sheets, but it only makes graphene less biologically active, not more.
[+] [-] observationist|5 months ago|reply
It doesn't mean it's good - it can do damage in the time it's present in various systems in the body, but it's not going to present a chronic, persistent threat like asbestos.
Graphene oxidizes relatively easily, and is vulnerable to all sorts of chemical processes that can attack the edges, and there are all sorts of metabolic pathways that can handle degrading and eliminating carbon. Natural decomposition from graphene in degrading concrete, asphalt, building materials, etc should handle it without any significant health risks, as well.
Some amount of graphene is present in carbon black and ground charcoal that's been used for tattoos for at least 8,000 years (Ötzi had some pretty cool tats) and hasn't presented any significant health threats.
Don't go around inhaling graphene flakes, wear sensible PPE when handling it. Acute exposure is already known to be unhealthy. That said, carbon is processed pretty well by a multitude of organisms and natural chemical processes, making the risk of chronic graphene contamination fairly low. It's a different order of hazard than asbestos entirely, and by all the evidence available so far, carbon fibers are going to be the more dangerous material.
[+] [-] SapporoChris|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] NedF|5 months ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] withinboredom|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] theshrike79|5 months ago|reply
One example was a floor material for care homes that could detect pressure in a 2D sense, so the floor itself could detect "fall events" and track movement + gait etc.
And I think they had a prototype of a similar thing in Australia that weighed all trucks coming and going from a mine just under the road they drove, no need to stop on weighing stations.
No idea where that went.
Nowadays we'd do the fall detection with either a wrist device (any Apple Watch can do this) or cameras + "AI" detection. The floor is a lot more privacy preserving though, it only detected shapes and pressure.
[+] [-] fnordpiglet|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] hennell|5 months ago|reply
Camera on the wall is quick, easy, doesn't have to deal with the wear and tear usage of a floor, and gives a good enough solution for the problem.
[+] [-] mxmilkiib|5 months ago|reply
their Making Graphene and Graphene Oxide playlist;
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbQqm4rNo6243e69xp-ZPUkYD...
a more recent 30m omnibus of a number of their graphene videos;
https://youtu.be/iqOCtEsMWjs
finishing with blood and milk and eggs!
their last video;
https://youtu.be/_RSiVrCsVH4
and after;
https://youtu.be/GhramXiUrY4
cheers mate :')
[+] [-] cultofmetatron|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] chromehearts|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] jrvarela56|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] Mengkudulangsat|5 months ago|reply
Musou black is what I tried.
[+] [-] pedalpete|5 months ago|reply
I'll admit that it's pretty niche, but it is also used in tires, batteries, and as grounding in electronics.
It isn't the easiest stuff to work with, I'll admit, and we've done some experiments in nanotubes as well.
Happy to answer any questions.
[+] [-] alansaber|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] LatteLazy|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] marcosfelt|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] SideburnsOfDoom|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] dcreater|5 months ago|reply
Wait what? If this is actually true this Jensen is going to be the richest/most important. If $500B is being invested in Datacenters and this company is raising a few ten million, something isn't adding up here.
[+] [-] fnord77|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] MountDoom|5 months ago|reply
It looks like they're using "graphene" as a pigment in the plastic, and I'd wager this probably means "99% conventional black pigment and 1% graphene"...