Graphene is a widely used material when making different devices such as batteries, light bulbs, or headphones, among many others. It is a very popular material because it is made from a grouping of carbon atoms that are arranged in a hexagonal shape. This makes it very small in thickness and a very versatile material, with great flexibility and resistance.
However, did you know that white graphene exists?
What is white graphene?
This has a structure very similar to the graphene that we know popularly. It can also be called boron nitride. A group of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed that this white graphene has the same electrical properties as conventional graphene.
The experiment consisted of stacking two sheets of boron nitride parallel to each other. The positive and negative charges of the material were moving to different sides in the ferroelectric state. But after applying an external electric field, the polarization changed. It should be noted that this happens at room temperature.
After making this discovery, the researchers believe that they could combine white graphene with other types of materials to obtain new materials with great properties and that could be applied in many different things.
For example, one of its possible uses would be to create devices or computers with greater memory storage. This is because the thickness of the material corresponds to one billionth of a meter. This makes it one of the thinnest ferroelectric materials ever made.
In addition, this new material involves new physics since its way of working is totally different from other ferroelectric materials that have been used for years.
What can white graphene be used for?
Another of its uses could be to help eliminate different toxic spills that pollute. White graphene is capable of absorbing up to 29 times its weight and can be used to absorb different substances such as oil spills or industrial oil that ends up in the sea.
It can also act as a kind of cooling and insulation system. White graphene is characterized in that its structure is connected to each other by means of tubes made of the same material. In this way, the heat is released vertically, so that the device we are using does not heat up.
This would be a vital material for some electronic devices that heat up very quickly and have performance issues.