Steve Cranford, a civil engineering graduate student of MIT, has generated a computer simulation a logo for the Bruins team using graphene, which has a honeycomb structure with a thickness similar to that of an atom.
Bruins-logo-3D
Cranford stated that graphene is a brilliant form of carbon that can be changed into a wide array of nanoscale structures. He adds that several of his simulations are made from single sheets or ribbons. He explained that the graphene sheets moved owing to rippling effect created due to temperature variations. He mentioned that he had been studying graphene structures to build an accurate multilayer system, and felt the Bruins logo to be a logical alternative.
The model logo comprises three graphene layers, yellow spokes, the black B and circle, and the background graphene sheet. Cranford purposefully created it using 26,773 atoms of hydrogen and carbon as a tribute to Michael Ryder, Newfoundland native and Bruins player.
CEE Professor Markus Buehler, who is also the research advisor for Cranford, explained that graphene if considered as a paper of nanoscale dimensions and based on the way we fold, cut, and arrange the pieces of paper, can have varied characteristics. He added that various structures and shapes of graphene are being studied and inspected and that it is possible to make use of graphene’s sticky properties to create different shapes.
The model logo’s diameter is a mere 20 nm and nearly 3 billion of the nano logos will have to be assembled from one end to another end to cover the entire length of ice at TD Garden. With so many nano logos assembled together, they would weigh only a few nanograms, says Buehler.