Bendable smartphones are closer to reality than ever thanks to flexible memory. Scientists have found a new use for graphene and their discovery may be the most important step by far with regards to bendable and foldable displays.
A group of scientists from the University of Exeter has developed a flexible memory made from perhaps the most important material ever made or discovered. Graphene, which won the Nobel Prize for Andre Gem and Konstantin Novoseov in 2010, is the strongest material on Earth. It is 200 times stronger than steel and even tougher than diamond. Despite this attribute, graphene is a good conductor of electricity, extremely lightweight, and is flexible enough to be made into memory storage and a dress.
Since its discovery, many have tried to come up with innovative uses for graphene. One creative use of the material is a 3D printed dress which lights up as the wearer breathes. The wearable graphene dress was made by the National Graphene Institute and CuteCircuit, a group of fashion designers.
According to Android Authority, the scientists see the graphene-made flash storage as the "way for a future golden age of electronics". The flexible memory is cheaper and more environment-friendly than those in the market today. According to these brilliant minds, led by Professor David Wright, the hybrid graphene oxide-titanium oxide memory that they have developed is a lot smaller, more adaptable, and faster than previous memory devices which utilized the prized material. The new flexible memory is only 50 nanometers long and 8 nanometers thick. Files can be written or read from the memory device as fast as five seconds.
Most importantly, the flexible memory is the key to bendable phones. Because graphene is the thinnest compound known to man, it may allow devices to bend and fold without worrying about damaging them. Phone Arena cited its electricity-conducting ability as one of the major reasons why the graphene is the perfect material for the flexible memory as it can conduct electrons at 1,000 km per second.
