A 1st step to super-strong carbon materials? 'Graphene oxide paper', Nature July 26 issue

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The above was written for the interested layperson who wants to learn more about science. It provides some context for our manuscript that has recently appeared in Nature.

In my opinion, there are wonderful opportunities for the mechanics community for both experiments and modeling of this new material system.  (Theoreticians/modelers should not feel constrained by treating exactly the system we have generated experimentally.  There are a host of related problems where idealizations would not at all detract from the modeling efforts or the conclusions they reach.)

I see that Rui Huang has referred to our work, I appreciate the interest.

So, I pose a question, which has been asked also by my colleague Paul Hansma at UCSB, and you might find our article with coauthor PJ Turner interesting:

P K Hansma, P J Turner, R. S. Ruoff  Optimized adhesives for strong lightweight, damage-resistant, nanocomposite materials: new insights from natural materials,   Nanotechnology  18, (2007) 044026

This is #155 on http://bucky-central.mech.northwestern.edu/publications.html  where it can be downloaded.  

The question is: Will it ever be possible to generate macroscopic samples comprised of defect-free nanostructures, such that the macroscopic sample has almost identical stiffness and strength as the nanostructures that (largely) comprise it? Assume we are talking on a per weight, not per volume, basis.

If there are colleagues wanting to collaborate with me (particularly on modeling), I have been thinking about this concept of reshuffling the sheets in graphite to make new materials for over a decade now. 

 --Rod Ruoff    r-ruoff@northwestern.edu

Please note my impending move to UT Austin: http://www.engr.utexas.edu/news/articles/200707251292/index.cfm