Phase 5

Staff Writers. (2012, Jan 25). “New form of graphene could prevent electronics from overheating and revolutionize thermal management". UPI Space Daily. Retrieved March 28, 2013 from https://ezproxy.hacc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/917719948?accountid=11302

This article talks about researchers from the University of Texas at Austin having developed a new form of grapheme which could prevent electronics such as laptops from overheating. The researchers have developed a new type of graphene that is more effective at managing heat than the original type of grapheme. The researchers talk about their research bringing graphene that much closer to being used to manage heat in not only laptops, but in a skew of other electronic devices which are prone to overheating. Silicon transistors was the original material that was developed to be used as a conductor in electronics, but the need for smaller, faster, and more effective mechanisms exist as technology continues to develop. The new developments within the electronic field have created a lot of pressure for engineers to develop a product that can handle the demands of our advancing field. Researchers have found that graphene is the most promising material at doing so, and even more, the type of graphene that they have developed, they have found to be even more effective at dissipating heat. They also go on to mention that graphene’s use in electronics is continuing to develop and is at the beginning stages of implementation. 

What interests me most about this article is that the researchers actually developed their own form of graphene.” Led by Professor Rodney S. Ruoff in the Cockrell School's Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Materials Science and Engineering Program, the research demonstrates for the first time that a type of graphene created by the University of Texas researchers is 60 percent more effective at managing and transferring heat than normal graphene (Staff Writers, 2012). One thing that this passage taught me was that graphene could be developed and created. I thought that graphene, being carbon, was a naturally occurring element. I don’t really know that that information is helpful to answering anything in particular as it is in informing me about how even more vast the field of carbon based electronics really are. If I were to assume that this research were true, it is significant because this opens up doors to other researchers and companies who want to create better products for their consumers. Instead of waiting for someone else to develop a material that can do what they want, they can begin conducting research and experiments and manipulate the original form of graphene in a way that would be compatible with their products. It seems like there may be no end to what can be created.

Powell, D. (2011, Apr 23). “Scientists study graphene sibling”. Science News, 179, 14-14. Retrieved on March 28, 2013 from https://ezproxy.hacc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/863775677?accountid=11302

The article by Powell supports the first article which talks about researchers developing their own form of graphene. I’m very glad that I stumbled across this article, because it completely changed the ideas that I had from prior research. In the abstract, the author introduces graphene by talking about the Russian scientist who won a Nobel Prize in 2010 for developing it in 2004. I now realize that he had to create and alter graphite in order to get graphene. This source backs up what the first source was saying about developing their own form of the compound. This is significant because like I mentioned previously, it opens up endless possibilities for the development and alteration of electronic components.