We have a wonder material. Graphene, or Fullerenes. The problem is that it
might as well be “unobtianium” We can make bulk graphene, we can make perfect graphene, we just haven’t been able to make perfect graphene in bulk. This may, or may not, be the moment that we can finally mass produce a perfect graphene at an economical cost. This “economical cost” is critical.
It has been within this century, less than 20 years, that battery scientists and engineers were Doc Browns working in their garages on flux capacitors. Once battery economics past the threshold of economically worth while, (about the time the iPhone 3g appeared) research dollars started flowing into battery development. At this time graphene is still a material looking for a problem.
However, with a process that can make large quantities of perfect graphene at low cost, money and a lot of it will start to flow into that field. (If this is actually the “blast furnace moment”.
The Rice lab of Matteo Pasquali reported in Science Advances on its discovery of a unique combination of acids that helps separate nanotubes in a solution and turn them into films, fibers or other materials with excellent electrical and mechanical properties.
The study co-led by graduate alumnus Robert Headrick and graduate student Steven Williams reports the solvent is compatible with conventional manufacturing processes. That should help it find a place in the production of advanced materials for many applications.
The only realistically possible world changing tech I rank above graphene is fusion power generation at a much lower price and time required to build than we can achieve through tokamak devices.
Will these two techs and others arrive in time, or will GCC combined with Putinist revanchist stupidity crush us first?
The only realistically possible world changing tech I rank above graphene is fusion power generation at a much lower price and time required to build than we can achieve through tokamak devices.
Will these two techs and others arrive in time, or will GCC combined with Putinist revanchist stupidity crush us first?
Perils of Pauline.
david fb,
The “ Baroque Cycle” was enlightening. The world is always ending. Attempting to get rid if the human race is like trying to excise a rapidly mutating cancer. Neither self consumption (war) nor a high fever (Global Climate Change) will set humanity back.
As far as fusion power goes, we will get there. When? I have hope we will will see positive energy balance from a fusion reaction by late 2025 or 2026. While it would still be a long way before we would see the first fusion plant producing electricity, at least the amount money going into research would be more than the Kardashians gross.
However, there are stop gap
measures that can be applied once battery technology reaches commodity status. I expect this will be after 2030. So fossil fuels, while being less ubiquitous, it will still be happening.
I am thinking there should be a “UPS” index for battery industry maturity. When most of the UPS trucks you see are electric, you know the economics has crossed the Rubicon.
I am thinking there should be a “UPS” index for battery industry maturity. When most of the UPS trucks you see are electric, you know the economics has crossed the Rubicon.
I know of a couple other single-company or single-item indexes for really-quick comparisons or status checks.
Forbes invented the Big Mac index - it consists of the price of a McDonald’s burger in local currency, converted to US dollars at the current exchange rate, and is a quick comparison of effective currency values.
(They also run the CLEWI index - “Cost of Living Extremely Well” - but it’s more complex, being rather similar in design to the Consumer Price Index but with more-expensive components: transportation will be a luxury car and/or a private jet…)
The “Waffle House” restaurant chain that insists its stores be unusually prepared for extreme conditions - so FEMA uses “is the local Waffle House open?” as a quick check of how badly a disaster affects an area.
In both those cases there are better-quality indexes that do the same thing, and are heavily used - but they take longer to do, so if a good answer now is better than a perfect answer in a few days…
Novel, stable, inorganic nanomaterials manufactured in bulk give me pause.
Milligrams here and there not a big deal. But if/when we start talking of tens (or thousands) of kilograms of the stuff widely distributed through the econosphere (for lack of a better term), I’d like more reassurance that we’re not blithely disseminating this generation’s tetraethyl lead.
Novel, stable, inorganic nanomaterials manufactured in bulk give me pause.
Milligrams here and there not a big deal. But if/when we start talking of tens (or thousands) of kilograms of the stuff widely distributed through the econosphere (for lack of a better term), I’d like more reassurance that we’re not blithely disseminating this generation’s tetraethyl lead.