Council Member (and now Trustee !) Barrie Yates keeps us up to date with some of the latest developments in Science and Engineering. You will recall he reported on an IET lecture on Graphene a few years ago. It was a fascinating lecture on a remarkable development in Materials Science. Barrie reports below on another development bearing similar qualities to Graphene…..
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‘Thars Gold in them thar Hills’ as the old prospectors said, but perhaps not forever? As are all mineral deposits, they are a finite resource.
Gold is an important material which is essential for the production of all our many electronic devices. A new breakthrough will hopefully give us a way to extend the use of gold.
Researchers have managed to create “Goldene”, an incredibly thin version of gold.
The work follows the successful production of Graphene, which is made out of a single layer graphite atoms. That has been hailed as a miracle material. It is astonishingly strong, and much better at conducting heat and electricity than copper.
Goldene is built on the same principle, with researchers spreading out gold so it is just one atom layer thick. And, similar to Graphene, scientists say that the process gives it a variety of new properties that could lead to major breakthroughs.
The new material could be useful in everything from converting carbon dioxide to purifying water and in communications technologies – and much else besides, researchers say. What’s more, much less gold can be used in current technologies that rely on the material.
B. J. Yates – May 2024
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