World’s thinnest balloon by Martina Janeckova

Scientists have created the world’s thinnest balloon, which is just one atom thick and is made of a single layer of carbon. The balloon is made of graphite, which is made of atom-thin sheets of carbon put on top of each other. These sheets are known as graphene. As graphene is highly electrically conductive, scientists are researching if it could be used in advanced circuitry and other devices. Paul McEuen, physicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N. Y. said that when they had been studying little graphene trampolines, by an accident they had made a graphene sheet over a hole and had seen that it had been trapping gas inside. Later they found out that the membranes were impermeable to even the smallest gas molecules, including helium. When talking about the application, McEuen said one possibility could be miniature aquariums for molecules, which would be smaller than a red blood cell. He said that “You could have instruments on one side of the membrane, in vacuum or air, and on the other side you would have DNA or proteins put in liquid and you could get very close to these molecules, within a few angstroms”, or widths of an atom. Other applications could be hyper-fine sensors and ultra-pure filters. McEuen said they discovered that the only way gas leaked out from the balloon was through the glass that the bubbles were anchored on. Therefore they needed to build something that’s more impenetrable, such as crystal silicon, said McEuen. Scientists will provide further information on their findings in the August 13 issue of the journal Nano Letters.

by Martina Janeckova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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