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自从2004年被开发出来之后，这种神奇的材料还没有大规模进入商业应用，但是这种情况可能很快就要改变了。
测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
graphene['græfɪnɪ] n.石墨烯
polymer[ˈpɒlɪmə(r)] n.聚合物
prosaic[prəˈzeɪɪk] adj.平淡
阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。
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What is it like to work at the forefront of human knowledge? Researchers and company employees are finding out as the £60m Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre opens in Manchester.
Graphene was first discovered at the University of Manchester in 2004. The material — lighter and stronger than steel and also a good conductor — is a one-atom thick layer of carbon.
Researchers are studying the application of it to products including running shoes, batteries, wearable biosensors, paint, thermometers and cycle helmets.
But researchers have struggled to fashion the two-dimensional substance into a form that can be manipulated or bonds easily with other materials on a big scale.
At the GEIC, a collaboration between industry and academics that opened earlier this month, researchers hope to bridge that gap. It could influence thousands of other products from e-paper to biomedical devices, to membranes, to salt from seawater, as well as lightweight aircraft. The worldwide market for graphene-enabled products is predicted to be worth $25bn by 2027, the GEIC says.
We talked to five people about their jobs at GEIC — and their hopes for the future.
Maria Iliut, the creator of start-up Grafine, was the only student working with graphene when she took her PhD at the University of Cluj-Napoca in Romania in 2010. “We did not have any, so I had to ‘rediscover’ it and produce my own. It was a three-year process with lots of mistakes,” she recalls.
She achieved her PhD and it seemed natural to move to Manchester, centre of the graphene world. In 2014, she approached academics there and they asked her to help with a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation wanted a graphene-enhanced condom to help prevent Aids. They believed men would be more likely to use a lighter, more sensitive condom.
It did not work out but Ms Iliut moved on to another product. She helped find the right mix of graphene and rubber for Inov8, a UK business, to create a running shoe that was lighter, longer lasting and has better grip.
The work inspired Ms Iliut, 35, to set up her own company with university support. Grafine will help companies integrate graphene into products using the facilities at the GEIC. “Every polymer is different and we will fine-tune the graphene to work with the polymer,” Ms Iliut says. “We are recruiting two other people and I expect to have 10 in the second year if we get the investment.
“So far with graphene there have been lots of promises. With the GEIC we can do more than just promises.”
Nathan Feddy is among the 40 people hired by the university to run the GEIC. The research technician will assist companies wanting to make composites with graphene for use in lightweight aircraft, sports equipment, clothing and other purposes.
Mr Feddy, 26, studied metallurgy and mechanical engineering at Birmingham university. After his masters degree he returned to his hometown of Manchester and got a job with a financial services company — but wanted to return to engineering. “When I got the job here I did a lap of honour round the house. I could not believe I got the job. It is my passion.”
Since June, he has been working to get the equipment installed and learn how to use it. He is one of 10 technicians who will work with the companies paying an annual fee to use the GEIC. “I am going to work on some of my own concepts too,” he says. “There is so much potential.” He will also write a regular blog to promote his work: the UK has a shortage of technicians, who are vital to research.
Andy Goodwin has worked in materials research for 35 years, including 23 years at Dow Corning, the US chemicals company. He knows more than most about using graphene in products as he was hired by Thomas Swan, a chemicals business in north-east England that pioneered its use.
Its Elicarb Graphene Powder and Elicarb Graphene Dispersions can be used in display screens, conductive inks and heat-resistant coatings.
First Graphene, an Australian company, headhunted Mr Goodwin when it decided it needed a Manchester presence to market its own graphene, produced from a graphite mine in Sri Lanka. It is hiring four staff to work at the GEIC.
“Manchester really is the home of graphene. The facility here is second to none and it offers the opportunity to interface with industrial partners that could become our customers.” First graphene is one of three tier one partners of the GEIC that get guaranteed access to its facilities and staff.
“I am interested in new technology and this is as new as you can get,” Mr Goodwin says. His main job is to find UK customers and help First Graphene list on the London Stock Exchange. The Perth-based company is listed in Australia but “UK investors are more supportive of graphene stocks,” he says.
Suelen Barg’s interest in graphene has taken her round the world. The Brazilian took a first degree in material science at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil. That led to a PhD in Bremen in Germany and post-doctoral research at Imperial College London. But like many who are fascinated by graphene, she knew she was destined for Manchester.
In 2015 she got a job as a lecturer there. Her specialism is turning 2D graphene into 3D structures. This is vital to create longer lasting batteries, improved capacitors and composite materials, and she will work with companies at the GEIC to improve products, using a 3D printer to test prototype parts.
Ms Barg, 35, also has to deliver 30 lectures a term and some tutorials. That has got more demanding since student tuition fees in the UK tripled to £9,000 after 2012. “The students want a lot more interaction. You spend a lot more time planning the lecture. You have to be more responsive. We have to run a discussion board where the students go on and ask things and get answers.”
While she enjoys teaching, research is her main passion and she would like to set up her own business one day.
“My goal is to try to take this research to the next level and create products.”
Phil Hirst may have a PhD in materials and metallurgy but his current preoccupations are more prosaic. Is the secure door system working, do the toilets flush and are there enough desks for the new staff?
Mr Hirst took over the GEIC building as a shell and is responsible for installing £8.5m of scientific equipment, some of which is unique. As he sits down to chat, hardly five minutes pass before a worker grabs him for a chat.
“The buck stops with me,” he says. Now 50, he has long experience setting up and running laboratories, including the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Research Agency.
Manchester university recruited him more than a year ago. The GEIC facility handles toxic chemicals, has equipment that operates at thousands of degrees centigrade and needs to be secure while allowing collaborators in.
“It is a challenge,” Mr Hirst says. “Business engagement on this scale is new for the university. There are large numbers of clients to work with. We have to provide the best and get value for money for the university and our funders.”
New kit includes a roll to roll machine, like a printing press, that will transfer graphene created on a sheet directly to another material, speeding up production.
“This is the first time a lot of this equipment has ever been used. It is going to be an interesting journey,” says Mr Hirst. With that he is off to check on those toilets.
请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：
A.Steel
B.Iron
C.Carbon
D.Silicon
答案 (1)
A.True
B.False
答案 (2)
A.London
B.Cambridge
C.Manchester
D.Liverpool
答案 (3)
(1) 答案：C解释：Graphene was first discovered at the University of Manchester in 2004. The material — lighter and stronger than steel and also a good conductor — is a one-atom thick layer of carbon.
(2) 答案：A解释：But researchers have struggled to fashion the two-dimensional substance into a form that can be manipulated or bonds easily with other materials on a big scale.
(3) 答案：C解释：What is it like to work at the forefront of human knowledge? Researchers and company employees are finding out as the £60m Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre opens in Manchester.