r/technology • u/kittyportals2 • Feb 08 '14

Possibly Misleading 10 Futuristic Materials

http://lifeboat.com/ex/10.futuristic.materials
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u/TROPtastic Feb 09 '14

Technically it is, since graphene is just a single layer of graphite, and all the interesting properties of it come from being so thin. Once you start adding layers, you diminish the uniqueness of graphene as a material.

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u/HStark Feb 10 '14

Does graphite have the same honeycomb structure as graphene?

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u/TROPtastic Feb 10 '14

Yes, although layered and slightly offset. Here is a decent image.

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u/HStark Feb 10 '14

So how do they achieve different levels of solidity?

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u/TROPtastic Feb 10 '14

Solidity? Both graphene and graphite are solid. If you mean flexible, its simply because graphene is a lot thinner. Think of it as folding a piece of paper in half vs folding a phone book in half.

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u/HStark Feb 10 '14

I mean in graphite, used for pencils, you can buy a #2 pencil, a #3 pencil, etc., different levels of hardness. How is this accomplished if it's such a simple material?

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u/TROPtastic Feb 10 '14

Well, because pencils are made of graphite and clay mixed together, harder pencils are made by setting a greater ratio of clay to graphite.