How about some kitchen chemistry to make graphene?

The structure of graphite has been known for a long time. It consists of sp² hybridized carbon atoms strongly bonded to three other carbon atoms to form hexagonal rings which exist in layers. The remaining p electron on each carbon atom forms weak bonds between the layers so that graphite is a good lubricant as the layers can slide over each other and also a good electrical conductor due to the delocalised electrons between the layers.

The idea that a nanoform of graphite consisting of a single two-dimensional layer of the hexagonal carbon rings just one atom thick might exist was first proposed by a Canadian physicist, P.R. Wallace and during the 1980s the name of graphene was given to this single layer. Attempts to synthesise graphene essentially proceeded by one of two approaches. Either the single layer could be built up from individual carbon atoms or graphite could be broken down into its individual layers. The 2010 Nobel Prize for physics was awarded to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov from the University of Manchester who basically used sticky tape to pull of the layers from ‘lead’ (i.e. graphite) in pencils (see my earlier blog). Now a paper has been published in Nature Materials that claims that graphene can be made in a normal kitchen using a kitchen blender to break the layers in graphite powder. A team led by Jonathan Coleman from Trinity College, Dublin claims to have developed a method to produce graphene in industrial quantities. The exact recipe involves taking a high-power (400-watt) kitchen blender, adding 500 cm³ of water, 10–25 cm³ of detergent and 20–50 grams of graphite powder. After 10–30 minutes a large number of micrometre-sized flakes of graphene, suspended in the water are formed.  Graphene appears as part of the allotropes of carbon in sub-topic 4.3 : Covalent structures on the core of the 2014 IB Chemistry Diploma Programme under Topic 4 : Chemical bonding and structure. Perhaps students may soon be able to make their own graphene and study its properties practically as a possible piece of work they could submit for their internal assessment?