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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

#MATERIALS: "Graphene Composite Generates/Harvests Energy"

Graphene is slated to take over from silicon when CMOS hits the end of the semiconductor roadmap circa 2020. By layering graphene with electro-active polymers, Duke University researcher hope to make it into an energy harvesting technology, that can also double as an electro-optical switch and as artificial muscles for robots: R. Colin Johnson @NextGenLog

Graphene crumples when compressed (shown here), but straightens back out when applying a voltage to the electro-active polymer to which it is attached, enabling a new electro-mechanical-optical material suitable for energy harvesting, optical switching and artificial muscles for robots. Source:Duke University
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