The physics researchers who discovered graphene said, while they were picking up their Nobel Prize, that its discovery would change the world. Graphene is not the first discovery said to be world changing, nor will it be the last. But it is one of the few that looks to be coming very close to living up to its discoverers’ promise.
Structurally, graphene is just a single atom thick sheet of carbon strung together. But that structure gives it an impressive amount of strength and versatility that is unmatched by any other known material. As preposterous as it sounds, graphene requires more than 100 times the amount of force to break than it would take to break the same thickness of steel. And it does that while being incredibly flexible and can even stretch or fold without breaking or weakening. Additionally, even at a single atom thickness, it is an excellent conductor of electricity, and possibly even information. You can imagine how useful those properties would be to an incalculable number of industries, including those looking to miniaturize electronics or data transmission technology.
If all of that sounds miraculous to you and you’re wondering when we will see these amazing new technological advances, there is a catch. Currently it isn’t cheap to manufacture graphene, and researchers have only managed to create ribbons of the material a few centimeters in length. But this isn’t one of those problems that won’t be solved, it’s simply one of those problems that the really smart people who figure out stuff like this haven’t completely solved yet.
However, researchers from Northwestern University have developed a 3D printable solution-based graphene ink material that can be formed into biocompatible scaffolding structures. These structures can range in diameter from 100 to 1000 micrometers, are biocompatible, will conduct electrical impulses, and maintain the structural integrity of the graphene material. The material is easy to 3D print and can be used to print electronic devices and implantable biosensors, and even help print body parts and organs.