Giant Flakes Make Graphene Oxide Gel: Discovery Could Boost Metamaterials, High-Strength Fibers, Rice University and University of Colorado Study

Giant flakes of graphene oxide in water aggregate like a stack of pancakes, but infinitely thinner, and in the process gain characteristics that materials scientists may find delicious. A new paper by scientists at Rice University and the University of Colorado details how slices of graphene, the single-atom form of carbon, in a solution arrange themselves to form a nematic liquid crystal in which particles are free-floating but aligned.