The Little Book of Irish Science SFI Little Book of Irish Science | Page 44

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Layers for Better
Plastics and Computers
Smaller, faster computers, more effi cient batteries
and greener plastics could be on the way if we can
use tiny fl akes or nanolayers of certain materials.
Prof Jonathan Coleman and his team at the Science
Foundation Ireland funded AMBER centre in Trinity
College Dublin, have developed a method to split these
materials into billions of such layers. One example is
graphene, atom-thick sheets of carbon with immense
strength and the ability to conduct electricity. Prof
Coleman fi gured out how to use a soapy solution to
turn cheap lumps of graphite into billions of precious
graphene layers. These fl akes could be added to plastics
to make them stronger while keeping them light.
However, they have many other applications in areas
such as electronics and sensing and energy storage.
www.ambercentre.ie