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[Graebeard]

Ok Bay12, I have a challenge for you.  I suspect there may be a few materials science geeks knocking around here.

I'm getting married in about 7 weeks, and I'm giving thought to wedding rings.

I'd like to do something super geeky.  There are many awesome materials out there, but I can't think up anything more interesting (or scientifically significant) than graphene.  Let's face it.  Graphene is freaking amazing, and in any event is much more compelling a substance than gold to signify an everlasting bond.

Now, ideally I'd be able to acquire a ring made out of graphene; full stop.  Unfortunately, current fabrication technology for making a pure graphene ring is either not up to snuff or (I suspect) research-science-scale expensive.

And so my question: assuming I had a skilled jeweler willing to help, is there any realistic way to incorporate graphene, as produced with current technology, into a wedding ring?  I've been able to find graphene powder available for sale online, but I'm stumped as to how I could use it.

Any ideas?  Any other forms of graphine available that I'm overlooking?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[Darvi]

Get a hive of nuclear bees to make enough of the stuff to make an entire ring out of it? Or two for that matter since I assume that your significant other would also want one. I mean, the stuff's pretty neat.

[Virex]

Only 7 weeks? What kind of equipment do you have at your disposal?

[SoHowAreYou]

I would say find a sheet a try to carve it out but I don't think this is what you want.

[Miggy]

Graphene is a novel material, but I can't see how you'd make a ring out of it.

Graphite (pencil lead) is the thermodynamically most stabile structure of pure carbon under normal atmospheric conditions, as opposed to diamond. It consists of layer upon layer of graphene, stacked atop of one another while not entirely bonding between the layers. For instance, while the material of graphene is very excellent at conducting electricity, graphite is only so in two directions. If you try to jump between graphene layers, you will not be able to conduct electricity.

Imagine graphene as a piece of paper, and then graphite as a book.

While graphene is a novel property, most of the novelty comes from the fact that it is an entirely two-dimensional structure, always flat, and always one carbon atom thick.

I would find it highly difficult to construct a ring of a one-atom thick sheet of paper. Should it be possible, the ring would probably be impossible to see with the naked eye, and incredibly fragile. Should you choose to make the ring bigger, so as to make it more sturdy, you would end up with a ring of graphite, i.e. pencil lead. You might convince your fiancee that if she jumped into a volcano, she might some day turn it into diamond. However I think most of the novelty will wear off as the ring will snap and draw on stuff.

If you want to incorporate graphene into a ring through some other measure... Well, you would have an impossibly thin and invisible layer on your ring. If you want to size it up, you will get a practical wedding ring which you can write "I love you" with for a few weeks.

[Virex]

I would say find a sheet a try to carve it out but I don't think this is what you want.

The biggest sheets available right now are a few millimeters in either direction. I doubt his fiancé's fingers are that small.

[alway]

Graphene itself can be created quite easily and cheaply; to the point where you already have the materials to do so (to a limited extent) in your own home. Ordinary scotch tape, as it turns out, is sufficient to pull apart the layers from graphite until it becomes a single-layer sheet of graphene (either sci-am or popsci had an article about doing such at one point or another).

What you would probably want if you go this route would be something akin to this:
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-04/new-graphene-material-paper-thin-and-ten-times-stronger-steel

I suspect it would be considerably more difficult to shape than metal though.

[kaijyuu]

Get one of those meteorite metals.

[G-Flex]

Graphene is a novel material, but I can't see how you'd make a ring out of it.

Graphite (pencil lead) is the thermodynamically most stabile structure of pure carbon under normal atmospheric conditions, as opposed to diamond. It consists of layer upon layer of graphene, stacked atop of one another while not entirely bonding between the layers.

Yeah, I was going to say: Wouldn't anything made out of graphene thick enough to constitute a ring just be graphite, since you'd obviously need many layers of graphene?

Basically, the question doesn't make any sense to me, because graphene is an essentially two-dimensional sheet; once you somehow make it thicker, it's not graphene anymore.

[Graebeard]

What you would probably want if you go this route would be something akin to this:
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-04/new-graphene-material-paper-thin-and-ten-times-stronger-steel

I suspect it would be considerably more difficult to shape than metal though.

This is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to find.  Clearly a singly atom thick ring isn't what I had in mind, but this is the kind of graphene-based material that could plausibly be incorporated into jewelry.

Now to see if I can source this "graphene paper" (poor name, I'm sure).  To the Internet!

[G-Flex]

I'm not sure how that differs from regular old graphite; less bonding between layers, or what? At any rate, graphite is made out of sheets of graphene already, so you can totally go get yourself a ring made out of pencil lead if you feel like it.

[alway]

What you would probably want if you go this route would be something akin to this:
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-04/new-graphene-material-paper-thin-and-ten-times-stronger-steel

I suspect it would be considerably more difficult to shape than metal though.

This is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to find.  Clearly a singly atom thick ring isn't what I had in mind, but this is the kind of graphene-based material that could plausibly be incorporated into jewelry.

Now to see if I can source this "graphene paper" (poor name, I'm sure).  To the Internet!

Do be careful though; I am also finding something called 'graphene oxide paper' which can be purchased, but is something different with different properties. Though it too may or may not be what you want.

[Graebeard]

Edit: Huzza!

I think this may actually be doable.

[alway]

See above post I made at the same second.
That stuff is a different material; so be sure to check its properties and such to ensure it is amiable to your project.

Edit: Yep; seems that stuff has a bit of a problem which would limit its use in your project:
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2007/07/25-02.html

The sheets remain stable when exposed to air, says Ruoff, but immersing them in water slowly loosens the bonds. Also, says materials scientist Boris Yakobson of Rice University in Houston, Texas, because water is so common as either liquid as rain or vapor as humidity, it will likely affect graphene sheets exposed to the environment in the long run if the material can't be protected from water's effects.

Which means it has to be entirely sealed within the ring to prevent it from falling apart due to contact with moisture.

[G-Flex]

Graphene oxide paper is something completely different. That's why it's "graphene oxide", not "graphene". It's made out of little flakes of graphene oxide, and whatever else is in it, and has been around for a century.