India’s first graphene innovation centre will soon be established by the Digital University Kerala (DUK). The DUK has joined hands with the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), Thrissur, to set up the India Innovation Centre for Graphene in Kerala.
- The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has accorded sanction for a Rs 86.41-crore project in this regard.
- The graphene centre is expected to offer students, researchers, established industries, and budding start-ups, an opportunity to test and experiment with new innovative products.
What is Graphene?
- Graphene is extracted from graphite, the material used in pencils. Like graphite, graphene is entirely composed of carbon atoms and 1mm of graphite contains some 3 million layers of graphene.
- Whereas graphite is a three-dimensional crystalline arrangement, graphene is a two-dimensional crystal only an atom thick.
- The carbons are perfectly distributed in a hexagonal honeycomb formation only 0.3 nanometres thick, with just 0.1 nanometres between each atom.
Qualities of Graphene
- Graphene conducts electricity better than copper. It is 200 times stronger than steel but six times lighter.
- It is almost perfectly transparent since it only absorbs 2 per cent of light.
- It impermeable to gases, even those as light as hydrogen or helium, and, if that were not enough, chemical components can be added to its surface to alter its properties.
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