Graphene for Marine Applications

The electrical properties also add spice.
Imagine if a different current could be delivered to different parts
of the surface, and/or signals could be transmitted very quickly
from each part of a surface to a central processor. It might be
possible to have an electrical equivalent of riblets that respond
to changing flows and environmental conditions.

 

edx.org are running a Chalmers course entitled "ChM001x Introduction to Graphene Science and Technology" starting March 23rd if this would be of interest to anyone on the forum.

 

Graphene in the Marine Industry - News
"Haydale Graphene Industries will work with Alex Thomson Racing to incorporate graphene enhanced materials in their Research and Development program to improve overall strength and stiffness for a number of key structures within the ATR boat", read on ->
http://www.compositesworld.com/news/enhanced-graphene-components-for-next-generation-racing-yacht

 

Graphene +

Graphene, optically clear aluminum, aluminum foam, and 3D weaving of composites in this excellent article from gCaptain:
http://gcaptain.com/dnv-gl-transparent-aluminum-isnt-science-fiction/

 

I copied the most important parts of the text:
"Made up of one-atom thick layers of carbon, a single sheet of graphene is the thinnest material ever observed and is up to 200 times stronger than common steel. A study by Recep Zan, Quentin M. Ramasse, Ursel Bangert, Konstantin S. Novoselov at Cornell University has found that it is also self-healing and so impermeable that not even helium atoms can pass through it.

DNV GL notes that graphene is flexible, light, nearly transparent and an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. “As it is both stronger and stiffer than any known material, it could be used to manufacture products and structures that would be a fraction of the weight and stronger than anything produced today,” says DNV GL. “Graphene could also be used to strengthen polymer or metal composites.”

It withstands pull but not shear. My Idea is to build a try out version AC 45.
Skin in graphene, ribs in carbon. electricity onboard to let light up the wing and hull in fluorescent colours. Nice to look at night in Bermuda. Stimulation of top-technology.

Production technique-wise there is a problem. Fabrication for totall area of ac4.. of graphene, memphrane is limited. If not even impossible. Nice engineering research challenge. (something I miss in this cup, but enough about that)

How are things Dough Lord?

 

I'd like to see a one atom thick skin on a boat.

The BS about stronger than steel might be literally thru, but practically it does not matter at all.

Realistically you need to discuss strength / density - called specific strength. Then the statement is surely true, but still useless.

Graphite of course is stronger than steel for specific properties, and glass is even stronger - just a lot more flexible.

Avoid the Popular Science silly claims please.

 

Multi layers just like in the old days with wood? it is research and it's sophisticated.

 

If you knew it could be assembled in "multi layers" that would be something.

But your question mark shows it's just a guess. If it was achievable so far someone would have announced a break thru.

So what's graphene? Graphite in one atom layers? We had some guys claim to make some in a lab at work. Their statement was that the "strength" was just a guess based on the molecular structure. It's hard to grab a single atom layer in a tester and pull on it - you know?

I stick to my Popular Science comment about excessive claims to make a big splash, but not supported by facts - as far as I know. I'm looking for some actual facts.

 

You can make graphene from regular graphite. All you need is scotch tape. That is how the first samples were made.

 

Gonzo,

I had forgotten the scotch tape fact. Sounds like stacking up graphene won't give a lots of strength if you can separate it with tape.

Have you heard of anyone making 0.100" thick graphene?

 

if you stack up graphene, you get graphite which is many layers of it. I have used it on experimental Lithium Ion batteries. It didn't deliver what the vendors of the material claimed. We still have a roll of aluminum foil with a layer of graphene on it.

 

And yet another article on Graphene from Pysh.org.
Graphene is strong, but is it tough?

Quote: "This material certainly has very high strength, but it has particularly low toughness—lower than diamond and a little higher than pure graphite," said Berkeley Lab scientist Robert Ritchie. "Its extremely high strength is very impressive, but we can't necessarily utilize that strength unless it has resistance to fracture."

Read more athttp://phys.org/news/2016-02-graphene-strong-tough.html

The answer according to the researchers is to multi layer it. (composites)
After that they use thermal annealing. (Complex heating processes)
http://phys.org/news/2015-09-layering-technique-graphene-fiber-strength.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annealing_(metallurgy)

 

Interesting posting.
That lack of toughness was a property that some sandwich-core exhibited, and resulted in their fracturing in shear destroying their benefits in a sandwich core boat construction. Some foam cores were particularly susceptible.

 

Just like reinforcements of kevlar that is fracturing in shear the application has another benifit.
It can deliver electricity like a photo electro cell with 60 % conversion efficiency:
Quote from Wiki about potentential applications of Graphene.

Light collector[edit]
Using graphene as a photoactive material requires its bandgap to be 1.4–1.9 eV. In 2010, single cell efficiencies of nanostructured graphene-based PVs of over 12% were achieved. According to P. Mukhopadhyay and R. K. Gupta organic photovoltaics could be "devices in which semiconducting graphene is used as the photoactive material and metallic graphene is used as the conductive electrodes".[100]

In 2008, chemical vapor deposition produced graphene sheets by depositing a graphene film made from methane gas on a nickel plate. A protective layer of thermoplastic is laid over the graphene layer and the nickel underneath is then dissolved in an acid bath. The final step is to attach the plastic-coated graphene to a flexible polymer sheet, which can then be incorporated into a PV cell. Graphene/polymer sheets range in size up to 150 square centimeters and can be used to create dense arrays.[101]

Silicon generates only one current-driving electron for each photon it absorbs, while graphene can produce multiple electrons. Solar cells made with graphene could offer 60% conversion efficiency.[102]
Source:
Potential applications of graphene - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potential_applications_of_graphene


Might become usefull in sailfibres. What about extra electricity for actuators of wing sails, movable ballast or foils?
I gave this sugestion to Team the Netherlands for AC where I am side-ways involved in but the current rules do not permit PV cells.
Maybe in the future...