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Beware of new material claims - the case of graphene

Given that graphene is quite the in vogue material for audio applications I wonder how many (if any) of the vendors selling this are actually sourcing the real thing?

http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2018/10/11/graphene-you-dont-get-what-you-pay-for
folkfreak
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak OP
1,349 posts
 
@soundermn correct -- one has to assume that everything that is claimed in audio is bunk, let our ears judge and leave the marketing sales pitch in the dustbin where it belongs

The point of posting a link from a well regarded authority in the field in which I earn a living, was to observe that if expert chemists, with access to the necessary tools and assays to measure what they are being sold, are using material that is not what it claims to be what hope can we have that what wen mere audio fools are getting is anything it claims to be ... none of which says that I for one am not pleased with what "graphene" based offerings do for my system, just that I'm not pretending I understand what or why they work
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Fake argument. Why would anyone cry foul when you can hear the Graphene based product? Are you intentionally trying to start a fight? What do you mean you don’t understand how Graphene works? Everyone else does by now. 
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak OP
1,349 posts
 
Geoff -- to quote your original posting on this thread

Given that real Graphene is (defined as) one molecule thick and that layer upon layer of Graphene is really no longer Graphene, but still might be better than X, one imagines lots of care is required when making, handling and applying product. On the other hand Graphene has been used in certain tennis racquets for at least five years and is recently showing up in road bike tires. So, most likely by now some Graphene production is top notch. For the DIYer, well, you can always resort to the tape method.

My point was to agree with you -- be careful about claims of "real" i.e. monolayer graphene, that's all ...


guidocorona
4,298 posts
 

Graphene is not a mono-molecule layer of carbon... It is instead a mono-atomic layer of carbon, arranged in a hexagonal latice... There are no molecules per se in graphene, but the entire graphene sheet or micro-sheet, be it bound to a substrate or free-standing, can be deemed to be a cristal or a crystal fragment.


G.

  

soundermn's avatar
soundermn
344 posts
 
@folkfreak I'm totally with you!  I was being sarcastic.  I don't think that we should assume everything is bunk... but I am a complete skeptic on most things "tweaky".  Any outrageous claim could be bunk or could be reality.  However, what about the unintended impact?  

Graphene is a good example.  Someone in the forum who is often overly hyperbolic about tweaks extolls the virtue of this wondrous new tweak.  It solves every problem in the world of audio.  A veil is lifted.  

Yeah, okay...  What's the negative?  1. Expensive. (of course) 2. Not able to really verify what it is. (as you note above)  3. Not really tested in the long term. (try to get this stuff off!  How long does it last?)  4. Highly conductive, so if it spills or happens to be on a little too much... immediate short. (what happens if it drips inside your nice piece of gear?)   Now, do you think his hyperbole highlighted any of these items?  Absolutely not.

So, in those ways, I'm a skeptic, and I want to know more before I go plunk down my benjamins on graphene, mystery cones, battery powered interconnects, jewels to hang on the wall, or any of these other snake oil tweaks.  In fact, if the post or ad says anything about "tweak", I know I have to dig further, or file it in the goofball round file.
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