It’s a material so strong even the Man of Steel or a bullet would have trouble breaking through it — and its versatility and exciting potential are only now just being uncovered.
Graphene, the technology of the future, will be showcased at a major international conference being hosted by Griffith University next week.
The 5th International Symposium on Graphene Devices is being held in Australia for the first time and will bring together the greatest minds on the new wonder material and how to unlock its vast potential.
Held in Brisbane, the four-day event will cover everything from how graphene can be applied to health care, energy, water, optoelectronics and protective coatings.
First isolated in the laboratory about a decade ago, graphene is pure carbon and one of the thinnest, lightest and strongest materials known to humankind.
It is 200 times stronger than steel but six times lighter, and a better conductor than copper.
Associate Professor Francesca Iacopi
Conference chair Associate Professor Francesca Iacopi, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, says the conference will look to the future and the ways graphene will make the leap from laboratory to day-to-day life applications.
“It’s a very big deal to have this conference here,” Associate Professor Iacopi says.
“There’s a huge amount of researchers worldwide working on graphene because of its thin and specific structure. It has properties that no other material can achieve so it really is an exceptional material.
“These applications may be 10 years from now but it we’re entering the phase of application so it’s very exciting from that point of view.”
Speakers include the National University of Singapore’s Professor Chwee Teck Lim who will talk on graphene’s biomedical applications, Viet Phuong Pham from the Sungkyunkwan University in Korea who is working on using the material for lightweight and flexible touchscreens for phones, and Claire Berger from the Institute Neel in France, who is amongst the pioneers of graphene research.
Griffith’s own Associate Professor Qin Li will discuss Fluorescent Nanocarbons — The Emerging Nanolights, while Mohsin Ahmed will discuss exceptionally performant integrated energy storage devices.
The symposium will be held at Theatre S05, Griffith University – Queensland College of Art, Southbank, Brisbane on 11-14 July, 2016.
