When it comes to light bulbs, we’ve seen a lot of transformation since Thomas Edison’s practical incandescent bulb. Since then we’ve delved into fluorescent lights, and more recently, LEDs. Now we’re moving on to the next big thing in light bulbs, and that just may be graphene.
The new bulb is projected to last longer and cut energy use by 10 percent.
The Development came out of the University of Manchester—the home of the wonder material—where researchers developed a novel filament-shaped LED coated in graphene.
“This light bulb shows that graphene products are becoming a reality, just a little more than a decade after it was first isolated – a very short time in scientific terms. This is just the start. Our partners are looking at a range of exciting applications, all of which started right here in Manchester. It is very exciting that the NGI has launched its first product despite barely opening its doors yet,” explained Colin Bailey, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester.
The graphene bulb is expected to go on sale later this year.
[Sources: BBC & University of Manchester]Make sure to check out the research papers on graphene in the Digital Library, including this recently published open access paper entitled “Selective Electroless Silver Deposition on Graphene Edges“.