To commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian Cultural Institute in Barcelona has kicked off a programme of events entitled, “The Story of Italian Science in the World.” The first of these, held at the Casa de la Convalescencia at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, was dedicated to graphene, the thinnest and most resistant material known.
Cristina Africh of the Trieste-based Istituto Officina dei Materiali (IOM) of the Italian National Council for Research- CNR, introduced the experts who talked about this brilliant conductor of heat and electricity, which is transparent and impermeable to gas. These properties make graphene of great use in many fields from electronics to optics and from sensors to bio-devices – microscopic devices made up of biological elements which are revolutionising the healthcare field. This versatility earned its discoverers the Nobel Prize in 2010.
