Scientists Revisit 19th-Century Experiments with Modern Tools, Discover Potential Graphene byproducts.
Recently published research suggests that Thomas Edison may have unintentionally created graphene as a byproduct of his experiments on incandescent bulbs in the late 19th century. Researchers at Rice University, led by chemist James Tour, replicated one of Edison's seminal experiments using modern tools and discovered a surprising material: turbostratic graphene.
To reproduce what Edison did, with our current knowledge and equipment, is exciting, said Tour. The discovery inspires curiosity about other information hidden in historical experiments. What questions would Edison have asked if he joined us in the lab today? What answers can we get when revisiting his work through a modern lens?
Edison's light bulb experiment involved using carbon-based filaments to achieve high temperatures required for flash Joule heating, which is an effective method for producing graphene. Researchers Lucas Eddy and Tour recreated Edison's experiment, attaching light bulbs to a 110-volt power source and rapidly heating the filament to between 2000-3000 degrees Celsius.
Using modern optical microscopes, they observed distinct layers of turbostratic graphene within the carbon filament before it turned into graphite. However, the researchers acknowledge that this is not definitive proof that Edison produced graphene. Even if he had been aware of its existence, detecting it would have been impossible with the technology available at the time.
The study highlights the potential for innovation to emerge from reinterpreting historical technologies using modern tools and new questions. "Innovation can emerge from reinterpreting the past with fresh tools and new questions," they wrote. "In the case of 'Edison graphene,' a 140-year-old invention continues to shed light not just literally but scientifically."
The researchers believe that other early technologies, such as vacuum tubes, arc lamps, and early X-ray tubes, may have also accidentally produced unusual materials or reactions that weren't analyzed or noticed at the time. This study demonstrates the importance of revisiting historical experiments with modern tools and techniques to uncover new insights and potential discoveries.
Recently published research suggests that Thomas Edison may have unintentionally created graphene as a byproduct of his experiments on incandescent bulbs in the late 19th century. Researchers at Rice University, led by chemist James Tour, replicated one of Edison's seminal experiments using modern tools and discovered a surprising material: turbostratic graphene.
To reproduce what Edison did, with our current knowledge and equipment, is exciting, said Tour. The discovery inspires curiosity about other information hidden in historical experiments. What questions would Edison have asked if he joined us in the lab today? What answers can we get when revisiting his work through a modern lens?
Edison's light bulb experiment involved using carbon-based filaments to achieve high temperatures required for flash Joule heating, which is an effective method for producing graphene. Researchers Lucas Eddy and Tour recreated Edison's experiment, attaching light bulbs to a 110-volt power source and rapidly heating the filament to between 2000-3000 degrees Celsius.
Using modern optical microscopes, they observed distinct layers of turbostratic graphene within the carbon filament before it turned into graphite. However, the researchers acknowledge that this is not definitive proof that Edison produced graphene. Even if he had been aware of its existence, detecting it would have been impossible with the technology available at the time.
The study highlights the potential for innovation to emerge from reinterpreting historical technologies using modern tools and new questions. "Innovation can emerge from reinterpreting the past with fresh tools and new questions," they wrote. "In the case of 'Edison graphene,' a 140-year-old invention continues to shed light not just literally but scientifically."
The researchers believe that other early technologies, such as vacuum tubes, arc lamps, and early X-ray tubes, may have also accidentally produced unusual materials or reactions that weren't analyzed or noticed at the time. This study demonstrates the importance of revisiting historical experiments with modern tools and techniques to uncover new insights and potential discoveries.
. the idea of reinterpreting past tech with new tools is pretty neat, but let's not get our hopes up too high 
. still, it's awesome to see people digging into old research and trying to make sense of what came before 
besides that, what's with all these people trying to recreate historical experiments just to say they did? ain't they forgetting that edison was already a genius for creating the light bulb in the first place? 
that's wild! can you imagine edison stumbling upon graphene without even realizing it? 
i'm low-key fascinated by how researchers are like, recreating his experiments with modern tools & discovering new things... it's like, the more we think we know about history, the more we realize how much we don't! 
. The potential for innovation from revisiting old tech is huge 
!
He's basically like the OG inventor, but nobody ever thought about what other crazy stuff he might have stumbled upon. Now that we're re-reading his old experiments with modern tools, it's wild to think about how much more we could learn from him if he had access to today's tech. And the fact that they found this graphene stuff just sitting there in his old bulbs? Mind blown! 
, and it's amazing what we can discover when we use modern tools on historical research 
anyway think about it, if edison created graphene by accident what else could he have created by mistake 
. 140 years old, which means most of us weren't even born yet when Edison was doing this research 
. But at the same time, I'm a bit disappointed that they're not exploring more questions about why Edison didn't discover graphene on his own and how it might have changed history 
But seriously, this study is like, totally mind-blowing. The idea that we can revisit historical experiments with new tools and techniques to discover new things is just, wow 
Like, for real though, this is wild stuff. I mean, we already know how cool graphene is, but to think it might've been created by accident back in the 1800s? Mind blown 
