How regular soybean cooking oil could improve electronics. Image source: Shutterstock (#412824742)
Scientists in Australia have managed to create graphene in normal air conditions using cheap soybean cooking oil. Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms that is 200 times stronger than steel, harder than diamond and very flexible. The material has the potential to make better electronics, more effective solar cells and could even be used in medicine. According to a study published last year, graphene makes mobile phone batteries last 25 percent longer and it is able to filter fuel out of thin air. Under certain conditions, it can even be turned into a superconductor that carries electricity with zero resistance. However, it is very expensive to produce and it is questionable if the new method can be economically scaled. The Australian scientists are now looking for commercial partners. They are not the only one, though, who work on creating graphene.
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