Description
An unusual month, with most of the world in lockdown to contain the spread of corona virus. Yet the sheer amount of activity in the world of graphene and 2D materials continues at an amazing pace so this issue contains a wealth of information.
Graphene face masks seem to have been making an appearance. The claims for their efficacy not proven at present. Many of the advertisement articles seem to confuse anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activity with anti-viral activity.
We found this concerning and looked into the published research associated with graphene, 2D materials and antiviral activity. Very few papers seem to have been created in this area. We detailed the few key ones and summarised their content. It would appear the graphene oxide is the material of choice for the researchers and does indeed show a broad-spectrum antiviral activity. So we can expect to be reporting on far more work being done as we come out of the other side of this crisis.
In other developments we note that graphene has acquired yet another superlative: The most impermeable material. Just one atom thick graphene has the same impermeability to helium (and higher gases) as a one kilometre thick wall of glass.
A layer of graphene on hexagonal boron nitride has been found to convert terahertz radiation into a direct electric current by a new rectification mechanism and this could help power internet of things (IoT) devices.
On the commercial side of things, a new graphene-based skin cream has been developed. It is based on graphene enhanced motor oil, yes. Hopefully this will be thoroughly tested before being launched on the market.
Directa plus seems to be leading the commercial advance, reporting a big increase in sales, which is good evidence to support graphene coming out of the hype phase.
As usual there is far more to read and we’ll be keeping up with the pace of developments for the next issue.
Adrian Nixon,
1st April 2020
