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BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Bendy gadget future for graphene 

A remarkable material called graphene could soon be used to make flexible and transparent high-speed electronics, researchers say. Graphene's incredible ... mechanical and electronic properties are well known, but it is difficult to make in bulk. It consists of one-atom-thick layers of carbon atoms arranged in hexagons. A report in the journal Nature is the third in recent efforts that have seen the production of centimetre-scale samples of graphene. The transparent samples can be fixed to any surface and bent or twisted without damaging them. When the technique is perfected, such films could be used in solar cells as well as any number of bendy, thin, transparent gadgetry, such as crystal-clear, flexible displays. Getting lead out First discovered in 2004, graphene is a close cousin of carbon nanotubes, which are in effect graphene rolled up. Tiny, high-quality samples of graphene can be sourced by using sticky tape to simply pull them off graphite - the same "stuff" that is in a pencil l   [More...] [Less...]