Nanotechnology & Graphene

Today, nanotechnology allows us to manipulate matter on scales that, until recent years, were unimaginable. Thanks to this manipulation, scientists and engineers can give new and unique properties to microscopic compounds, some of them not occurring naturally. The modification of microscopic properties (nanoscopic, to be more precise) of a particular element has an impact on its macroscopic properties. Being able to change the way an element behaves has widespread applications in many different fields of work. Without doubt, it is one of the technological fields with the most disruptive potential and it will have application in energy generation, transmission, storage and, of course, in energy efficiency.

As an example, the creation of nanoscale structures allows us to obtain compounds such as graphene. Even though small particles of this compound appear naturally in everyday objects such as pencils, science is working to control the synthesis of graphene particles to form even larger structures to get revolutionary macroscopic properties. The University of Manchester is a global leader in the use of graphene in applications related to energy. They have been working, for example, in the development of flexible and light batteries that can be stuck to clothes, are recharged in less time, and have a greater capacity than current prevailing battery technologies. Graphene supercapacitor are another example of nanotechnology, although they are light, they can provide a massive quantity of energy. This university invites us to imagine a future where we would be able to recharge our mobile phone in seconds or the battery of an EV in just minutes. The Massachusetts Technological Institute (MIT) is developing another promising application of graphene: flexible and transparent solar cells that can be adapted to any surface without losing their properties, almost like an adhesive sheet.

The global commitment to nanotechnology and graphene is high, expectations are big and their potential is huge. So, at Norvento we carefully follow the results that may progressively open new paths for energy technology.

As Professor Feynman stated: “There’s plenty of room at the bottom”