14 DAY TRIAL // Even though 3D printing technology is fairly young, at least as far as practical applications go, there are already some applications that can work with graphene. Stratasys hopes to become the foremost driving force in this field, however, so it has made a deal with Graphene Technologies.
Graphene is a material made by single sheets of carbon atoms in hexagonal pattern. It is very thin, but when applied properly, it can lead to the creation of objects (like screens, cases, figurines, tools, micriochips, etc.) that are extremely strong but also very thin, flexible and lightweight.
So far, we've seen liquid plastic mixtures that, when mixed with graphene 3D, allow for the 3D printing of conductive objects, which is the first step towards 3D printed electronics devices. Lomiko Metals also has a graphene 3D printing technology.
Stratasys and Graphene Technologies still need to develop their graphene-enhanced 3D printing materials, but it shouldn't take a year for results to show.
The partnership is only one of eleven new projects that involve American and Israeli companies. Unfortunately, there are no details on either of them, so we can only sit back and wonder what the Stratasys-Graphene pact will give birth to first: super-hard flexible items, (semi)conductors, self-assembling gadgets etc.