The news could give a sense of satisfaction and contentment to various plastic industry players and entrepreneurs as according to latest European plastic news the British Plastics Federation has called their federal Government to invest more on research and exploration of “Graphene”. According the agency, the Government ought to pump in more money to discover intricacies and subtleties that the chemical possess as it has the potential to shape-up the overall plastic industry. It is important to underline here that Graphene is one of those chamicals that is being considered as “Super-Chemical” as it is conductive than copper, more flexible than rubber and stronger than steel.
According to reports from the agency Graphene holds out the promise of a revolution in materials development – a fact not lost on the current government, which has already pledged £60m to Graphene-based research.
The agency has also expressed their deep concerns over reluctance of the Government in pumping funds for Graphene research. According to various data furnished by the agency the global competition for Graphene is mounting with the passage of every single day and the UK is lagging behind in the race. In its report the agency has expressed its deep concern over the fact that China has already filed 2, 204 patents while the United Kingdom languishes on just 54 patents.
While detailing the importance of Graphene research the BPF’s director-general Peter Davis says that “It is of concern that the UK has so few patents on graphene compared to China,” Moving on the same line he added that “Government has certainly provided some initial support but it is worrying that UK financiers and companies cannot see the enormous potential and ensure development of Graphene takes place in the UK.
What is Graphene?
Graphene is a substance made of pure carbon, with atoms arranged in a regular hexagonal pattern similar to graphite, but in a one-atom thick sheet. It is very light, with a 1 square meter sheet weighing only 0.77 milligrams.
It is an allotrope of carbon whose structure is a single planar sheet of sp2-bonded carbon atoms, that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice. The term graphene was coined as a combination of graphite and the suffix -ene by Hanns-Peter Boehm, who described single-layer carbon foils in 1962. Graphene is most easily visualized as an atomic-scale chicken wire made of carbon atoms and their bonds. The crystalline or “flake” form of graphite consists of many graphene sheets stacked together.
