Author: Stas Yurasov
Source: LigaBusinessInform
Translated by: Aurika Svitlytska
Two teams of Ukrainian scientists are working on new carbon nanomaterials of the future. Only American companies and PR writers know about this.
Researchers from Kharkiv created a new 3D carbon material which may create a sensation in the world of hydrogen vehicles and in the electronics of the future.
As reported by one of the most prestigious journals in the world, Physical Review Letters, Kharkiv researchers Nina Krainiukova of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Evgeniy Zubarev of the National Technical University, discovered and tested a new modification of carbon fibers. They named their discovery “ carbon honeycombs”.
Serhiy Sharapov, the chief of the laboratory of the Theoretical Intitute of Physics explained that it deals with one more carbon form: graphite, diamond and graphene: “It’s great that the researchers let the world know about their results. Time will now show whether this technology will be applied in industrial applications,” he said.
When will the new technology be applied in industry? “At the present time it’s too early early to speak about its quick commercial use, we’ve only taken the first step,” said Nina Krainiukova. Further work on the new hydrogen material will be done in cooperation with foreign scientists.
How did the honeycombs appear?
Carbon honeycombs can store large amounts of gas and fluids in their 3D structure. They can be used as lightweight energy-efficient fuel storage containers for hydrogen fuel, stated Physical Review Letters.
Yevhen Zubariov of the Kharkiv National Technical University, who was working on the development of an electronic microscope, which allowed Krainiukova to study the structure of the junction of carbon with a very high atomic resolution. The colleague invited him to work on this project ten years ago. No one remembered the technology for a long time.
Now Ukrainian honeycombs can store not only honey but also hydrogen
Yevhen Zubariov remembered that “Nina Krainiukova initially worked on the absorption properties on inert gases (krypton, argon) and understood, and saw that fiber films which synthesise have a very high storage capacity.”
His evaluation coincides with the assumption of an American publication: this technology can provide the solution for hydrogen storage. This is a problem over which the many research hours have been spent. The storage of hydrogen fuel is expensive and, even more, it can be dangerous in several cases.
Hydrogen instead gasoline
In the opinion of the director of the department of road transport market and automotive transportation, Roman Khmil, the application of the Ukrainian technology in the field of hydrogen transport can interest foreign investors. “The government of Singapore recently recognised that electric motors are environmentally toxic, and not economical. The consumption equivalent is 10 litres per 100 km, which is worse than hybrids. And hydrogen motors are very promissing,” he said.
“Storing and transporting hydrogen gas efficiently remains a key obstacle to its use as a renewable fuel source,” write the experts of Physical Review Letters. The US Department of Energy has for several years challenged scientists to develop a system, which can lower the cost of purchasing and use of automobiles using hydrogen fuel cell engines.
The US Department has even set up a separate programme as part of the U.S. DRIVE Partnership (a cooperative between government organisations, groups involved in energy and the automotive industry). It represents the interest of giants such as Fiat Chrysler Automotive, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Tesla Motors. Its main objectives – by 2020, cars which use hdryogen fuel cells, should have similar economic indicators, inclduing investment and operational costs, as traditionally fueled means of transport. The plan target figures: 1 Kw/hr of the engine’s work using hydrogen should cost $10.
Mechanism of an automobile using hydrogen. The size of the hydrogen cylinders is important.
One of the first mass produced cars in the world using hydrogen was the Toyota Mirai (“future”) in 2014. The government of Japan is planning to increase the amount of these cars by 100 times to 40 000 units. There are currently several hundred of these cars in use. About 80 hydrogen filling stations have been set up for them.
One more company that believes in the future of hydrogen is Korean Hyundai. It’s Tucson Fuel Cell has been sold in the USA since 2014. Large scale sales have not yet occured. There are only 20 hydrogen filling stations in the USA (primarily in California). And the maximum capacity of a car tank allows the car to travel a little but more than 400 km between refills. If the tank capacity increases and the distance between fill-ups increases, then the number of stops for fill ups will decrease.
When will we be able to bend a smartphone in two?
There is one more large sphere of application for the innovation developed by Ukrainian scientists. This is microelectronics. Nina Krainiukova says “that if the honeycombs are filled with various metals and nonmetals, then the range of electric and magnetic properties will be very wide.“
At the International Mobile Congress 2016 in Barcelona, graphene technologies were exhibited in a separate pavillion. Manufacturers presented prototypes of devices based on carbon compounds. At the present time graphene can be added into composite materials (plastic, resins) to strengthen electronic goods or to increase heat exchange.
But that’s just the beginning. The dream of electronics makers is the production of a uniform and stable stratum of graphene and its application on a commercial scale. Finally, the graphene will allow changes to the form of modern smartphones, tablets, wearable electronics. A carbon battery will will hundreds of times more compact and thinner, while screens will become flexible and durable.
Teams of researchers around the world are working on the application of graphene in electronics. Ukraine is no exception. It recently became know that American Graphite Technologies Inc. extended its contract with a team of researchers at the Kharkiv Physics Technical Institute for a minimum of another six months. The team has, for several years, been working on a technology which would allow for 3D printing of details using graphene. The Americans are financing the projects; its results are being kept secret. In the event of the success of the research, the rights to this innovation remain with the American company.
« Today our research aim is to find a physical solution, that will allows for the creation of a graphene technology (or more broadly, nanocarbon) for 3D printing. The preference is for the use of nanocarbon material which is already being manufactured and is available”, says Dmytro Vynohradov, the team leaders and researcher at the Institute. To him this kind of printing is opens unlimited possibilities for gadgets, mobile telephones and consumer electronics.
Homeless
While leading researchers Nina Krainiukova and Dmytro Vynogradov live in the same Ukrainian city in Ukraine and work on carbon technologies of the future, they don’t know each other. Other Ukrainian physics knew about this discovery from the American journal, judging by the lively discussion on Facebook.
What does that mean? In Ukraine there is no scientific association where different representatives of the state are present. The government doesn’t promote research and research communities. “A big problem of our research – it’s completely detached from its surroundings and business,” feels the managing partner of the Chernovetskyi Investment Group Foundation, Andriy Kryvorchuk. To establish something popular in this kind of vacuum is physically impossible.
In the minds of many Ukrainians, a physicist research is perceived as a partially blind pensionner in a well worn Soviet suit. Nobody is interested in the contents of his briefcase or of his working table. But they could contain everything possible, including strategically important research. Foreigners know the value of Ukrainian scientific research better than we do. Practically, local research people feel satisfaction about the fact their work is appreciated and they are in demand to undertake research for foreign sponsors for rather modest amounts.