GraphExeter Aims for Power with Transparency

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

It doesn’t sound much like dispassionate, objective scholarly reporting, but the University of Exeter in England headlines its report on a University-created breakthrough material, “Revolutionary new device joins world of smart electronics.” Layering graphene and the GraphExeter, a material obviously headed for product marketing, gives a “new flexible, transparent, photosensitive device” that can lead to solar-powered clothing able to charge the wearer’s cell phone, “intelligent” windows that can “harvest light and display images,” and just maybe (in this writer’s dreams) help power electric cars and airplanes. GraphExeter, Exeter claims, is the best known room temperature transparent conductor and with graphene – the thinnest conductive material – the pair make for great potential.   Researchers  developed  GraphExeter by sandwiching molecules of ferric chloride in between two layers of graphene. According to the University, “Saverio Russo, Professor of Physics at the University of Exeter said: ‘This new flexible and transparent photosensitive device uses graphene and graphExeter to convert light into electrical signals …