Scientists prove graphene dispels fundamental law of physics

[Shawn Knight]

It’s too early to know if graphene, the one-atom-thick sheet of carbon held together in a honeycomb pattern, will indeed be the successor to modern-day silicon although a recent discovery by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Mainz and the National University of Singapore could heavily tip the scales in its favor.

In the world of physics, Fourier’s law (in layman’s terms) dictates that the ability to conduct heat is intrinsic to the material. For example, a sheet of aluminum will conduct the same amount of heat whether you’re dealing with an inch of it or a mile of it.

But as researcher Davide Donadio points out, graphene doesn’t adhere to such rules. That means that the more graphene you have, the more heat it can absorb. His team was able to predict this phenomenon and verify it through computer simulations and real-world experiments.

It may not sound too terribly impressive but truth be told, it’s a serious game-changer in the world of physics and electronics.

As you may well be aware of, heat is the limiting factor when trying to build smaller and more efficient electrical components. With graphene, the possibility now exists that electronics of the future could be self-cooling. They wouldn’t need heatsinks or cooling fans and they’d no doubt last a lot longer as heat often leads to dead electronics.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/56746-scientists-prove-graphene-dispels-fundamental-law-of-physics.html

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

But as researcher Davide Donadio points out, graphene doesn’t adhere to such rules. That means that the more graphene you have, the more heat it can absorb.

I think this could be explained a little better... The more water you have, the more heat it can absorb too. But what makes graphene weird is that it's rate of conduction increases as you add more of it. Meaning, X amount of graphene will conduct X amount of heat. But twice that amount of graphene will conduct 4 times as much heat, not twice as much as Fourier's law predicts.

Cool, but aren't they still working on making a piece of graphene bigger than a micrometer?

 

[RzmmDX]

From what I get from this is that more graphene = better absorption of heat = somehow smaller electrical components disregarding how much graphene is needed and how fast it could radiate heat.

So, what you could get is smaller and efficient carbon heatsinks that makes your Macbooks cooler by 2 degrees at best?

 

[Jad Chaar]

Cool, but aren't they still working on making a piece of graphene bigger than a micrometer?

Yeah, in order for graphene to be a notable/worth successor for silicon it has to be produced in bulk cheaply enough. Once they find out how to efficiently get sheets of graphene, the technology is gonna go no where.

 

[VitalyT]

In the meantime, COG (Chip On Glass) is thriving. But there is always room for something better.

 

[Resp1ra]

But as researcher Davide Donadio points out, graphene doesn’t adhere to such rules. That means that the more graphene you have, the more heat it can absorb.

I think this could be explained a little better... The more water you have, the more heat it can absorb too. But what makes graphene weird is that it's rate of conduction increases as you add more of it. Meaning, X amount of graphene will conduct X amount of heat. But twice that amount of graphene will conduct 4 times as much heat, not twice as much as Fourier's law predicts.

Cool, but aren't they still working on making a piece of graphene bigger than a micrometer?

Last I saw some people developed a way to mass produce it in a blender, but I could be mistaken.

 

[Resp1ra]

From what I get from this is that more graphene = better absorption of heat = somehow smaller electrical components disregarding how much graphene is needed and how fast it could radiate heat.

So, what you could get is smaller and efficient carbon heatsinks that makes your Macbooks cooler by 2 degrees at best?

My guess in what he means is they could develop chips that require no heat sink or a very small one compared to todays because they dissipate heat so well, compared to what we use today.

 

[Guest]

I wonder there is some mistake. Thermal conductivity and heat storage is not same concept, Fourier's law describes the heat conduction ; while "The larger, the more heat it can absorb" is the description of heat storage. Thermal conduction depend on thermal conductivity, and temperature gradients; while the heat storage depend on density, heat capacity and phase transition. there are not the same thing at all.

 

[Per Hansson]

It has some special thermal conductivity alright!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5dwdZCKBZM

 

[gamoniac]

It has some special thermal conductivity alright!

Sweeeeet! Thanks for sharing that link. Nothing like seeing it in action.

BTW, TS site consistently freezes on IE 11 (on two separate Win 8 machines). After awhile, the browser warns that JavaScript (I assume) has been running and gives me the option to "Stop Script". It looks like the Ads panel caused it. FF and Chrome do not have this issue though.

PS: This only started happening recently (last week or two, maybe?).

 

[OliTheG]

Em, can we have the title changed? It's misleading.

Nothing can be "proven" in a hard science. Not gravity, not thermodynamics; nothing. We can provide evidence for them, but not provide absolute definitive proof. Heck, this article "proves" it. A fundamental law of physics. Hmm. Could one say that has been "proven?" No, because they have seemingly been disproven.

It should read something like "Scientists find evidence to suggest that graphene dispels major laws of physics"

 

[Guest]

No, they've made much larger sheets of graphene, they just don't have many methods to mass produce it. The current one, chemical deposition, can create large sheets, but they often have flaws. They are currently looking for better methods, but they've advanced far past micrometers.

 

[wiyosaya]

But as researcher Davide Donadio points out, graphene doesn’t adhere to such rules. That means that the more graphene you have, the more heat it can absorb.

I think this could be explained a little better... The more water you have, the more heat it can absorb too. But what makes graphene weird is that it's rate of conduction increases as you add more of it. Meaning, X amount of graphene will conduct X amount of heat. But twice that amount of graphene will conduct 4 times as much heat, not twice as much as Fourier's law predicts.

Cool, but aren't they still working on making a piece of graphene bigger than a micrometer?

Last I saw some people developed a way to mass produce it in a blender, but I could be mistaken.

You are not mistaken - See this http://phys.org/news/2014-04-graphene-kitchen.html

 

[RenGood08]

This intrigues me, but I really have no opinion in this department.

 

[Guest]

It does however follow the laws of conductivity, and if info is correct the graphene may be converting the heat into electricity, and thus the thicker the material the greater the conductivity by more than the increase in thickness. It makes perfect, predictable sense.