Posted on 02/26/2017 9:00:21 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
A young Emirati and a UAE based American nuclear chemist have developed what they claim is 'the next big thing in technology.'
Mohammed Al Fahim, 29, and Dr. Lary A Burchfield, 65 - both working for the Nawah Energy Corporation - claimed their new theory of combining graphite with diamond has led to the discovery of a new molecule that acts like a semi-conductor.
"Building a computer out of this will make the machine a millions times more powerful. Hence the discovery has the potential to change human lives," said Dr. Burchfield, Head of Environmental Radiochemistry Lab, at Nawah.
He said that the molecule itself contains the tiniest switch known to man, (semi-conductor). "I don't believe there was ever a molecule out there that could act as a switch, so this is truly a revolution in technology," added Dr. Burchfield.
The team said their invention would help develop better batteries, semi-conductors and better solar power.
"Five to 10 per cent of all electricity is used on the internet, and a lot of that is on data centers, but this invention will save energy," said Al Fahim who is the Head of Corrective Action Programme at Nawah.
He said it all began when the duo recently invented a brand a new class of carbon allotropes, called 'Novamene that Al Fahim claims can rival graphene as the next wonder material for use in technology and energy.
Graphine is a carbon allotrope and is the thinnest compound known to man. It is the best conductor of heat and electricity and hence is widely used in electronic applications.
The last inventors in the field were Sir Andre Geim and Sir Konstantin Novoselov, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for their work in graphene, and were even awarded the Knight Bachelor.
"No one thought you could combine graphite with diamond, but it was like a vault of lightening that struck us," said the American scientist who came to the UAE in 2013.
Al Fahim's younger brother Rashed who works for Miral Asset Management was also part of the invention.
To put their theory to test, the team purchased a molecule model kit from Amazon for Dh6000.
"We met with a professor from New York University of Abu Dhabi and showed him what we came up with - he was in absolute awe," said Al Fahim.
Dr Burchfield and Al Fahim said the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington has confirmed the theory.
"When we approached Professor Nikola Manini from the University of Milan to get published in the scientific journal, he said something that all scientists want to hear: "How on Earth did you come up with this!," said Burchfield.
According to him "it is not a stretch to say that this is the most crucial Emirati scientific discovery of all time."
I have a graphene calculator.
Oscars red carpet questioner....Who are you wearing? Graphene!
I think that there were TWO scientists working on this project, and not just the Emerites guy.
This is another time that it is politically correct to single out the Moslim only
>No one thought you could combine graphite with diamond
Yeah, who would of thought two compounds made from the same element could be combined.
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the sarcasm is large here.
Just new tools to perpetuate cismale, heterosexist, eurocentric patriarchial domination. None of these innovations will be complete until a robust reparations mechanism is in place to ensure that LGTB and POC victims are fully compensated. It's not even clear if interim indulgences have been purchased. Is the Clinton Foundation still open for such purposes?
In a sad note, the young emerald called home to share the news and three of his cousins blew up
“
Maybe they can make a finally make a powerful computer that can correctly filter out all your spam emails.”
Maybe they can build a computer that won’t crash while your right in the middle of an important project.
I just hate when that occurs.
No one thought you could combine graphite with diamond ... --Just by chance you crossed the diamond with the pearl You turned it on the world That's when you turned the world around
How plentiful are graphite and diamonds?
For an idea to achieve very wide use, what the raw material it needs must be economically available as to must be the method of production.
Discovering something in the lab does not always translate into a massively usable thing in the real world.
In 2000 the U.S. mined/produce no graphite domestically. Principal import sources of natural graphite were
China, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Madagascar, and Brazil, in
order of tonnages, which accounted for 89% of the value of
total imports. Mexico continued to be the major supplier of
amorphous graphite and Sri Lanka provided the lump variety.
A number of other producers supplied various types and grades of graphite to the United States, among the more notable being Japan and Germany.
China remains today the world’s largest source of graphite.
https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/graphite/310400.pdf
A USGS report on U.S. dependence on minerals in 2013, covering 1990 to 2010, shows production of graphite in the world at 72% for China, 12% for India and 7% for Brazil - as the top three producers (with none in the U.S.). [You have to read through a lot of text or also open the Excel spreadsheet the report references and has a link for.]
https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2013/1184/pdf/ofr2013-1184.pdf
The diamond picture is much different. The U.S. is the largest producer and user of synthetic diamonds for industry. Our use is so large that imports are needed to supplement the domestic use.
As far as industrial diamonds mined naturally, the top sources are Australia, Botswana, Congo and Russia.
https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/diamond/diamomyb03.pdf
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Not "compounds" -- allotropes.
Morphological analogues of isotropes...
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Thar ain't no sech annymule as a single-element "compound"... '-)
...and far from the first time it has been so-posted...
Silly me -- I'd consider 2X a "breakthrough"...
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BTW, thanks for posting; this is a fun thread -- actually has a few "thinkers" on it... '-)
They have not actually CREATED this wonder material. They just ran a model of what the properties SHOULD be, if anyone actually was able to create it.
It is a particular favorite passage of mine. A rare gem from the scientific community. I can’t tell if it is prose or poetry. It is somewhat reminiscent of Lewis Carrolls “The Jabberwocky”. A word like “graphene” needs a definition like that.
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