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Post by fascinating on Mar 23, 2013 19:53:56 GMT 1
That graphic looks a bit odd to me. It appears to m that the carbon atoms in the graphene are shown as much smaller than any other atom, including the hydrogen atoms in the water. Unless I am wrong, carbon atoms are similar size to chlorine ions, and both are much less than a nanometer in size, as are water molecules. Can they put together multiple graphene sheets to effectively make the holes smaller, thus allowing the salt ions to pass but blocking the water molecules?
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Post by alancalverd on Mar 24, 2013 0:34:37 GMT 1
Having now read the paper, it seems that all they have is a computer simulation of a lot of holes, with no suggestion as to how they might make it, get the holes the right size, or support a large sheet of it. (There's no point in having a small diameter filter because the energy you saved by not having to use a high pressure will now be expended to achieve a useful flow rate through a thin pipe.)
The size of the holes in graphene seems to me to be fixed at about 0.3 nm diameter. If you vary it by altering the ring structure you may not end up with a chemically or mechanically stable material.
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