CNN News: 無限的可能性

Imagine a world where your smartphone touchscreen never breaks, instead it bends, and the antenna inside, so fast it can transfer a terabit of data in a second, and the battery so powerful, it can fly an airplane.

想象這樣一個世界，智能手機的觸摸屏從來不會破碎，相反它可以彎曲，同時，內(nèi)置天線，傳輸速度之快，秒鐘之間就可以傳輸一比特信息，電力強勁，可以用于駕駛飛機。

What if I told you there was one substance that can make all of this possible?

如果我告訴你，有一種物質能讓所有的一切變成現(xiàn)實?

This is graphene, the miracle material of the future. Scientists say it`s the thinnest, lightest and strongest stable material known on earth.

這種物質就是石墨烯，這種未來神奇的物質。科學家稱該物質是目前為止人類知道的地球上最薄、最輕、最堅韌穩(wěn)定的物質。

It`s so strong it`s up to 200 times stronger than steel and harder than diamond. It`s so light that if you had a sheet of graphene the size of a football field, you could hold it between your thumb and finger and it wouldn`t bend or break. And it`s so thin it`s just one atom thick.

該種物質非常的強韌，其堅韌度比鋼鐵強200倍，硬度比金剛石硬200倍。石墨烯的延展性非常的好，一塊石墨烯可以延展出足球場的大小，同時你可以將其夾在拇指間，而不會彎曲和破碎。同時石墨烯的薄度僅有一個原子的厚度。

That`s right. Graphene is the world`s first two-dimensional material. How was it even possible? For decades, scientists weren`t even sure that it was until 2004 when physicists examined a piece of scotch tape used to peel off thin layers of carbon from a slab of graphite. What they discovered was graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern which gave the material extraordinary properties.

對的，石墨烯是世界上首個二位材料。怎么會這樣呢?幾十年以來，科學家們并不確定直到2004年，物理學家研究了一塊透明膠帶用于剝離薄層的碳石墨板。科學家們發(fā)現(xiàn)的就是石墨烯，一種單層碳原子以蜂窩的模式排列，該種結構讓石墨烯具有了特殊的性質。

It`s transparent but it can absorb light. It`s elastic, and pliable but also impermeable to all gases and liquids except for water. And it`s the world`s best conductor of heat and electricity.

石墨烯是透明的，但是卻能吸收光線。其柔軟具有彈性，但卻不能滲透除了水以外其他液體和氣體。石墨烯是世界上最好的熱電導體。

This could lead to faster computer chips, longer lasting batteries, wearable solar panels. Imagine, battery powered electric airplanes, cancer detecting nano-sensors, unlimited supplies of cheap desalinated ocean water. The possibilities are limitless.

該種物質能讓電腦芯片運轉速度更快，電池蓄電時間更長，太陽能極板更耐用。想象一下，用電池為電動飛機、癌癥檢測納米傳感器、海水淡化設備提供電能。可能性是無限的。

So, what`s stopping us? A flake of graphene just a micrometer thick can cost over $1,000 to make using the scotch tape method, making it possibly the most expensive manmade material on earth.

但是什么在阻止我們呢?片狀的石墨烯僅僅有一微米厚，卻要耗資1000度美元通過制作透明膠帶的方法獲得。是世界上價錢最昂貴的人工制作材料。

Another problem? Regular graphene lacks what`s called a "band gap", the property that allows it to function as a switch. You want your devices to turn on and off. It will likely take a large company with deep pockets to solve these problems.

另外一個問題?常規(guī)的石墨烯缺乏所謂的“帶隙”，該性質可以讓其功能類似于開關。你想要自己的設備開關。這可能需要資金雄厚的公司才能解決這些問題。

Until then, graphene`s applications are limited to things like tennis racquets, skis and light bulbs, not exactly game-changing. But it`s only been about a decade since graphene was discovered. Since then, labs and companies have put billions into research in a race to unlock graphene`s limitless potential.

直到現(xiàn)在，在不完全改變石墨烯的性質下，其應用僅限于網(wǎng)球拍，滑雪板和燈泡，但是這距離發(fā)現(xiàn)石墨烯僅有十年。之后，實驗室和公司們已經(jīng)投入數(shù)十億競相研究石墨烯無限潛力。

Only time will tell if the miracle material of the future ever arrives.

只有時間能告訴我們這個神奇材料的未來是否會來臨。