(Image: Adrianus Indrat Aria)
Instead of shedding its skin, this flexible foam made of graphene has cast off its skeleton. Its shape was created by growing layers of graphene on a metal mesh that was later dissolved with chemical vapour.
This false-coloured image of the foam, captured by nanotechnologist Adrianus Indrat Aria from the University of Cambridge, has won the annual Zeiss photography competition organised by the university’s Department of Engineering. Aria produced the image using an electron microscope as part of his research.
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Like its cousin aerographite, graphene foam is lightweight and electrically conductive. The material is of interest for making lighter batteries and structures, possibly even skyscrapers that reach the boundaries of space.
