Turning Fruit Juice into Graphene Quantum Dots

Graphene, a sub-nanometer thick sheet made of carbon, was isolated just over a decade ago (2004), yet swiftly won the Nobel Prize for Geim and Novoselov in 2010 for its properties of high strength, conductivity, and transparency. Students will replicate the procedure used to isolate graphene and make graphene quantum dots from citrus fruit juice.  This lab is designed to help students understand the quantum nature of electrons and light, including the wave/particle nature of both.