The importance of geometry in materials…

MIT researchers have found a way to create 3D objects with 2D layers of graphene. Graphene is like a sheet one carbon atom thick, as thin as it gets, so we may say it is a 2D object (it is not alone, scientists have managed to create a few other 1-atom thick layers compounds).
Moving from a 2D structure to a 3D structure is not easy at all! Hence the interest for the result obtained at MIT.
The result is a material that is 10 times stronger than steel with a density that is just 4.6% of steel.
What is really interesting in this research is that the strength is not 100% depending on the material used (graphene), rather it is the result of the geometry used in the structure of the object. This is not surprising if you think that a thin sheet of paper is so easy to crumple. However if you roll the sheet into a tube that same sheets gets much stronger!
The researchers modelled on a computer the interactions among molecules and turned out a specific geometry that yields exceptional strength. The resulting object is also full of "empty" space so that overall its density is extremely low.
By using specific pressure and heat they have couched graphene to assemble into this kind of structures, known as gyroids. 
They demonstrated the crucial role of the geometry in the structure by using a 3D printer to create a prototype. Surprisingly, they also demonstrated (watch the video) that the thinner the walls forming the structure are, the more strength it has, which is clearly counterintuitive. 
A true discovery? Well, actually … no! It turns out that Mother Nature has already created these kinds of structures in corals and diatoms (microscopic shells living in the sea). Yet, finding a process to replicate this is a great success!

About Roberto Saracco

Roberto Saracco fell in love with technology and its implications long time ago. His background is in math and computer science. Until April 2017 he led the EIT Digital Italian Node and then was head of the Industrial Doctoral School of EIT Digital up to September 2018. Previously, up to December 2011 he was the Director of the Telecom Italia Future Centre in Venice, looking at the interplay of technology evolution, economics and society. At the turn of the century he led a World Bank-Infodev project to stimulate entrepreneurship in Latin America. He is a senior member of IEEE where he leads the New Initiative Committee and co-chairs the Digital Reality Initiative. He is a member of the IEEE in 2050 Ad Hoc Committee. He teaches a Master course on Technology Forecasting and Market impact at the University of Trento. He has published over 100 papers in journals and magazines and 14 books.