Graphene nanotechnology to be a ‘game changer’ for telecom devices: Analysts

A thinner, lighter and stronger form of carbon key to the development of nanotechnologies is expected to revolutionize telecom devices in the decades to come, telecom and technology experts say. The qualities of graphene, a “two-dimensional” carbon “allotrope,” make it an ideal material to improve device components like processors, antennas, batteries, sensors and cameras, Ian Akyildiz, group chair of telecommunications at Georgia Tech, said at the Institute of Electrical Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) international conference in Ottawa this month. “ 300 times stronger than steel, and harder than diamonds,” Akyildiz said in a presentation. “It’s also bendable, so it can take any form you want, and it conducts electricity better than copper or fibre.” Akyildiz said graphene could be used to create flexible touchscreen devices or nano-sized communications chips that can be placed under human skin to monitor biological changes caused by Alzheimer’s, epilepsy or other diseases and disorders. Chris Lumb, CEO of TEC Edmonton, a nonprofit group offering science and technology commercialization services, said in a phone interview that batteries composed of graphene represent “huge potential” for mobile device manufacturers. He said future batteries composed of the new material could hold three to four times more power than current cellphone batteries on the market, and can be fully recharged in about two minutes. “Because you can just plug it in and recharge it in a couple of minutes, it would enable devices to start consuming way more power, and to have a lot more functionality built into mobile devices,” he said. He added that “the more the mobile market grows, the more in-demand it will be in the telecom space.” The carbon material has been known to scientists since as early as the 1960s but its properties were not fully appreciated until researchers discovered how to isolate single atomic layers in 2004. Lumb said whatever technology company can first deploy a graphene battery for commercial use will have an advantage over other manufacturers. He said device batteries are one example of the potential uses of graphene and nanotechnology in the telecom industry. Independent technology analyst Carmi Levy said in an email to The Wire Report that nanotechnology and materials like graphene hold a “huge” amount of promise for more efficient and cost-effective data transmission, storage, management and content display. “Graphene, in particular, holds the potential to change the rules by which signals travel through a system, which can in turn, revolutionize the price/performance quotient of an incredible wide range of technologies in a similarly broad range of markets,” Levy said. He said graphene is “the best of the best super materials” and “will be an absolute game changer” for the telecom industry. He said the material has almost unlimited potential to rewrite how electronic devices are built and work because it transmits electrons with less resistance than current technologies. “ could mean ultrafast processors–think terahertz and beyond, as well as memory, support circuitry, network transport, sensors, power management (batteries, capacitors, etc.) and displays,” he said in the email. Duncan Stewart, director of technology, media and telecom at research firm Deloitte Canada, said in a phone interview that graphene-based products could be decades away from finding their way into consumer devices. “It’s fun and exciting, but we are still, almost at the very earliest, five years away or probably 10 to 20,” Stewart said. Levy agreed, saying the industry is in the early stages of understanding the potential of nanotechnology and how to commercialize it. “The process of taking something new and advanced and moving it from the lab to something that can be mass produced and sold to regular enterprises can typically take years to decades,” he said. “Many of today’s latest solutions have, in fact, been percolating in labs for longer than we’d like to admit.” Levy said delays in the rollout of the material in devices could be compounded because carriers and equipment manufacturers are reluctant to “bet the farm” on expensive new technologies or equipment. He said via email that industries tend to stick to what they know until another technology is proven effective “beyond a shadow of a doubt.” “t’s the tech equivalent of transitioning from horse-and-buggy to the internal combustion engine,” he said. “e all know that process took decades to play out.” dgrenier@thewirereport.ca

Graphene nanotechnology to be a ‘game changer’ for telecom devices: Analysts

News | 06/22/2012 5:34 pm EDT

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