Graphene may be used to thwart counterfeiting

[Cal Jeffrey]

Counterfeit products are a big problem for all kind of businesses. Clothes, purses, software, and numerous other products are cloned regularly. Revenue lost every year is estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars and the problem has become so pervasive that Amazon and eBay have stepped up efforts to combat fake products.

Manufacturers have also tried hampering counterfeiting efforts by tagging their products with things like holograms, RFID, or other difficult to duplicate techniques. However, fakers have been able to figure out ways of reproducing these as well. Fortunately, a method is on the way that might just put an end to counterfeiting altogether.

Researchers at Lancaster University have developed a way to use graphene or other two-dimensional materials to authenticate products. The quantum technology can mark products with a unique “fingerprint” at the atomic level. Consumers, or even resellers, will then be able to scan the item’s tag with their smartphone and run it against a manufacturer’s database see if it is real or fake.

The technique is "unclonable" according to Dr. Robert Young, co-founder of Quantum Base, a spin-out company at Lancaster. It relies on the laws of physics and to replicate it one would have to be able to construct at the atomic level, which is impossible at this time. The principles it works under have to do with how crystalline structures like graphene are formed.

Scanning probe microscopy image of graphene.

Graphene is a lattice of carbon molecules that is only one atom thick. It is considered a miracle material as it is stronger than steel yet as flexible as plastic, but its crystalline structure is what makes it ideal for authentication. The technology that the researchers at Lancaster have developed works by identifying the irregularities in two-dimensional substances.

In "close packing" materials like crystals, molecules line up in lattice formations stacked on top of each other. Due to variances in the way the tiny particles align, perfect lattices are never formed. This principle can be demonstrated using a single layer of ball bearings between two sheets of plastic as Steve Mould shows in the video below.

Just like the ball bearings, the atoms in two-dimensional materials create similar imperfections. Since each section of graphene would have its own irregularities, it would be virtually impossible to duplicate. Best of all, it can fit on any surface, so clothing, smartphones, or any other product made from any other material can benefit from it, even currency.

Quantum Base has a patent pending for the technology. The tags and the scanning app are expected to reach consumer markets by the first half of 2018. Cost and rate of adoption remain unannounced.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/69998-graphene-may-used-thwart-counterfeiting.html

 

[RickRick]

What's amusing is that "this can't be copied" "is clone proof" and "nobody can duplicate this" has been said - and proven wrong so many times - pretty much every time so far.

 

[ChrisH1]

What's amusing is that "this can't be copied" "is clone proof" and "nobody can duplicate this" has been said - and proven wrong so many times - pretty much every time so far.

This technique relies on using a naturally occurring thing, not a man-made thing, which at the moment no-one at all in the whole world could duplicate.

This is different to using a new and clever thing you've made yourself: assuming someone is as clever as you and has access to similar resources they should be able to replicate it eventually. But if you're just taking something you couldn't make yourself and recording the pattern it makes on a scanner and using that for id, it's a different game.

 

[Evernessince]

Want to stop a large majority of counterfeiting? Stop building your products in China. What does Apple expect when the Chinese can make the exact same product but take Apple out of the equation for larger profits.

 

[GreenNova343]

So...basically the idea is to put a super-high-tech "bar code" on items, unique to each item? See, that's the thing: unlike the other methods, since each piece of graphene is unique, you're not talking about storing a unique identifier for each product line, but a unique identifier for each item. Produce 20,000 expensive designer purses? That's 20,000 unique sets of graphene "tag" characteristics that need to be stored. Produce 1 million smartphones? That's 1 million unique graphene "tags" whose characteristics need to be stored.

And of course, there's the 'scanning' app to worry about as well. Because last time I checked, smartphone cameras didn't have the zoom resolution to resolve images at the atomic level -- & I'm pretty sure that even microscopic-level resolution requires physical add-ons for the camera lens. And are we talking about actual scan comparison here (I.e. visual comparison of the crystalline structure & its flaws)...or are we just talking about comparison of "processed data", like the way the Touch ID fingerprint scanners work?

 

[Kibaruk]

This technique relies on using a naturally occurring thing, not a man-made thing, which at the moment no-one at all in the whole world could duplicate.

It relies on the laws of physics and to replicate it one would have to be able to construct at the atomic level, which is impossible at this time.

At this time... at this time... at this time...

 

[ChrisH1]

At this time... at this time... at this time...

Yes. Ideally one would use something it was provably impossible for anyone ever to duplicate, but since we don't have one of those we use the next best thing, something that's not duplicatable now. A helpful thing is, anyone who wanted to duplicate it for counterfeiting purposes would have to do an awful lot of expensive research, which is not their schtik, and the people who are set up to do that sort of research already have no incentive to do so, because they're not in the counterfeiting game.

If and when someone finds a way around it, people will move on to the next thing. It's not necessary to find a permanent uncompromisable solution, just to stay ahead of the game.

 

[captaincranky]

Unless I missed something, the idea is that any given lattice is unique, one of a kind as it were. But, wouldn't that require each and every item's "fingerprint" to be stored by the manufacturer.

But isn't the consumer really the most problematic part of the equation? I figure most counterfeit goods are bought intentionally, by virtue of the fact, nobody can afford ,the real thing, especially when a piece of sh!t Louis Vuitton handbag might set you back $500.00, and the copy only $50.00.

Besides, you were to eradicate all counterfeiting, it would be tantamount to giving big name designers and manufacturers an unlimited license to steal.