Alcuni scienziati australiani sono riusciti a ottenere il preziosissimo grafene partendo dai semi di soia. Si tratta di un’importante novità; finora infatti il procedimento per produrre questo futuristico supermateriale era costoso e complesso, impedendone l’utilizzo su larga scala. Il metodo, che prevede unicamente una fase di riscaldamento dell’olio e una di raffreddamento su fogli da nichelio, è stato sviluppato dai fisici guidati da Zhao Jun Han dell'Ente nazionale di ricerca e descritto sull'ultimo numero di Nature Communications.
Ma che cos’è il grafene? È un prodotto costituito da uno strato di carbonio di spessore equivalente alle dimensioni di un solo atomo. Per le sue qualità straordinarie (viene descritto resistente come il diamante, flessibile come la plastica e più conduttivo del rame), è considerato uno dei materiali del futuro, con possibili usi in ogni campo: dall'elettronica ai congegni biomedici, dai pannelli solari alla filtrazione dell'acqua.
Secondo i ricercatori, il loro metodo "potrà ridurre il costo di produzione e ampliare il suo impiego in nuove applicazioni".
ANSA/dielle
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