Where is my Tank Slicing Graphene sword?



Imagine a sword that weighs less than an ounce (or even a gram).
So thin, that if you looked at the blade edge on, it would be invisible.
So strong and stiff, that you could use it as a lever to lift a car.
So sharp, that if you grabbed the blade, your fingers would simply fall off.
So durable, that it would never need to be sharpened, ever.
The blade would be impervious even to lasers.

A twelve year old armed with a graphene sword could slice through an M1 Abrahms Tank like it was made of butter.
Even depleted uranium is no match. The only object that could withstand graphene sword is a graphene shield.
It is a material straight out of science fiction; 200 times stronger than steel, yet, thousands of times
lighter.

The sword blade thickness of 1 atom is the very definition of an infinitely sharp object.
And, it can be created literally out of thin air. If that is not available, sticks and dirt will do.

Graphene is composed of nothing but carbon, like charcoal or pencil lead. The only difference is that the carbon atoms are arranged in rings, like a chicken wire fence.
Six atoms form a ring, and each atom is a member of three rings, creating a soccer ball pattern.

In other words, graphene is made out one of the cheapest materials on earth, dirt.

So why aren't we swimming in graphene?

Graphene already exists in pencil leads. Graphite is composed of tiny chunks of graphene, loosely clumped together.
There is another form of carbon where the graphene sheets are tightly bound to each other, often called a girl's best friend, or Diamond.

The trick is to make the graphene sheets bigger. As of the beginning of 2009, the price of graphene is millions of dollars per square foot. The biggest pieces available commercially are about $1000 for a microscopically sized sample.

But millions of dollars are being poured into the race to manufacture graphene. It is the hottest research topic on earth at the moment. My graphene sword will be ready momentarily.

Source

nanowerk.com