Researchers add graphene to silly putty to create sensors and medical devices

The research, led by Prof Jonathan Coleman, Trinity College Dublin and in collaboration with Prof Robert Young of Manchester University, potentially offers applications in new, inexpensive devices and diagnostics in medicine and other sectors. The team’s findings have been published in the journal Science.

Prof Coleman from Trinity’s School of Physics along with postdoctoral researcher Conor Boland, discovered that the electrical resistance of putty (polysilicone) infused with graphene was extremely sensitive slight deformation or impact.

They mounted the so-called G-putty onto the chest and neck of human subjects and used it to measure breathing, pulse and blood pressure. According to Manchester University, it showed unprecedented sensitivity as a sensor for strain and pressure, hundreds of times more sensitive than current sensors.

The G-putty also works as a very sensitive impact sensor, able to detect the footsteps of small spiders. It is believed that this material will find applications in a range of medical devices.