A $10 bet led to a breakthrough in production of the wonder material graphene. Thomas Mallouk, professor of chemistry, physics and biology at Penn State University, bet his research associate Nina Kovtyukhova that she could apply her research on boron nitrade to graphene. Kovtyukhova did not believe her methods would be effective to produce graphene so Mallouk made a wager – $100 to Kovtyukhova if she failed and $10 to Mallouk if she succeeded. The result? Mallouk is $10 richer and the proud owner of a post-it note complimenting his chemical intuition.
Graphene has been in the news almost constantly for the last few years. Every month brings new applications for this wonder material. It will revolutionize the way everything is made, but only if it can be produced in large enough quantities. Graphene is 200X stronger than steel while being 6X lighter. It also has an electron mobility 70X faster than silicon, used in computer processors, which makes it the most efficient conductor of electricity and heat. In addition, it is made of carbon which is an abundant element on earth. Carbon is special for its ability to bond in a multitude of ways to create diverse properties. Carbon makes up materials such as graphite, coal and diamond. As hard as a diamond, graphene can also be just as expensive to acquire.
To read more, click here.