Antwort auf Beitrag Nr.:
43.979.725 von zechn16 am 03.01.13
21:32:42The Future of Energy May Literally Be in your
Child's Hand
By John Licata - December 21, 2012 | Tickers: AIXG, GTI, INTC, IBM,
PANL | 5 Comments
John is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries
represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not
formally edited.
Being in the research business for north of a decade, it’s always
exciting for me to focus on emerging technologies and
next-generation materials that could advance energy solutions and
also open new doors for a variety of applications. This has me
keyed up to discuss graphene, especially for the promise it holds
in the future of energy conversion and storage.
First things first. What the heck is graphene anyway? Well, imagine
taking a lead pencil and drawing a line. Then place a piece of
scotch tape over the line and peel it back. The tiny fragments of
graphite now present on the tape are called graphene. If you fold
the tape and pull it back again, you can split the graphene even
further and make the layers of the material even thinner each time
you repeat the process.
Scientifically, graphene is a single layer of graphite made from
tightly bonded sheets of carbon measuring just one atom in
thickness. Due to its hexagonal or honeycomb lattice-like shape,
graphene actually resembles chickenwire. However, this is no
material to cluck at. Why?
Graphene can be roughly 100-200 times stronger than steel, it is
amazingly thin (nearly totally transparent) and it can be
stretched. Furthermore, graphene is turning heads, including my
own, due to its ability to conduct heat (better than all known
materials) and electricity just as well as copper. This is the
reason the groundbreaking scientific graphene research of Andre
Geim and Konstantin Novoselov won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Yet despite its exceptional potential, graphene is not yet known in
mainstream investment circles. This could be good for those looking
for growth opportunities within quantum physics.
Graphene, which is not currently produced in the U.S., is being
tested in areas such as solar cells, nuclear reactors, LCD touch
screens, desalination of water, foldable phones/tablets,
supercapacitors, lithium-ion/vanadium-redox batteries, engine
designs (airline as well as electric/hybrid cars) and as a catalyst
for fuel cells.
Better than silicon?
Some reports suggest that graphene may even replace silicon in the
future. My only issue with that belief is that graphene may not
work as well as silicene, single layers of silicon. However, the
ease to make graphene (recall the scotch tape example mentioned
above) simply can’t be overlooked. Therefore the ease to produce
graphene may ultimately be too strong an argument for silicene to
compete with it regardless of how much spending the semiconductor
industry has pumped into fabrication facilities built to
manufacture various electronics over the last few decades.
That means if the enthusiasm for graphene spills into actual
commercialization of the material beyond the walls of laboratories,
saying graphene could challenge the use of silicon wouldn’t be so
far fetched in my view. That would also potentially doom the
outlook for indium producers as well since graphene could be a more
flexible, low-cost alternative.
So how do we invest in graphene? Well, for starters, it’s made from
graphite and 80% of world’s graphite is located in China. Therefore
finding graphite outside of China will be a huge windfall to
stakeholders, especially since the material may soon be considered
rare earth. If that were to happen, I’d bet China would look to
keep most graphite in its own backyard and that could vault prices
of the material higher.
Investors may be best served looking at graphite mines, graphene
production companies and graphene technologies. Large-cap names
that are moving forward with graphene technologies include IBM
(NYSE: IBM), Sony,
Samsung, BASF and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC).
Considering IBM created the first graphene-based integrated circuit
on a single chip (less than 1 square millimeter in size) just one
year ago, the company seems to have a competitive first-mover
advantage over its larger rivals that could lead it closer to
challenging the use of silicon in computer chips despite public
comments by the company I believe are only made to throw rivals off
IBM’s pursuit of a holy grail-like material.
I am also high on Intel since under CEO Paul Otellini, who will be
stepping down in May 2013, the company has embraced indium, a
next-generation material that graphene could substantially
outperform. Therefore considering Intel’s open-minded view of
indium, graphene stands to interest them even more (I wouldn’t even
be surprised to see Intel become more involved in solar panel
applications due to advancements in graphene and actually more
seriously consider increased use of the material in chips
previously dominated by silicon due to better fabrication
economics).
As for lesser known names to keep on the radar, investors may want
to take a look at manufacturing plays such as CVD Equipment
(NASDAQ: CVV),
Aixtron (NASDAQ: AIXG), GrafTech
International (NYSE: GTI) and China Carbon Graphite Group (NASDAQ:
CHGI), the best way to play China’s push to advance modern
technologies. I am a fan longer term of Universal Display (NASDAQ:
PANL) due to my excitement in bendable electronic screens that I
feel are the next progression for tablets and future e-readers.
One wild card play in the graphene space due to size (micro-cap) is
Northern Graphite (NASDAQ OTCBB: NGPHF). Shares of Northern
Graphite have been on an absolute tear in the past week possibly
due to more excitement for graphene coupled with delayed enthusiasm
regarding the company moving to the Tier 1 of the TSX Venture
Exchange.
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Interessant in diesem Zusammenhang:
Aixtron hat gerade mehrere Anlagen für die DRAM Herstellung auf
Silizium (silicon) Basis nach Korea geliefert.
http://www.aixtron.de/index.php?id=312&L=0&tx_ttnews[tt_news…
Mit wem könnte Samsung wohl Graphen erforschen?
Gruß


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