'Miracle' carbon material distills alcohol

MANCHESTER, England, Jan. 27 (UPI) — Membranes based on the “miracle material” graphene can be used to distill alcohol, British researchers say.

Researchers at the University of Manchester say the membrane blocks the passage of several gases and liquids but allows water through.

Graphene, a form of carbon, is a flat layer of carbon atoms tightly packed into a two-dimensional honeycomb arrangement.

The researchers say thin sheets of graphene oxide exhibit the strange property of being impermeable to air or any other gas but allowing water to easily evaporate through them.

“Graphene oxide sheets arrange in such a way that between them there is room for exactly one layer of water molecules,” researcher Rahul Nair told the BBC.

“If another atom or molecule tries the same trick, it finds that graphene capillaries either shrink in low humidity or get clogged with water molecules.”

“Helium gas is hard to stop. It slowly leaks even through a millimeter-thick window glass but our ultra-thin films completely block it,” researcher Andrei Geim said. “At the same time, water evaporates through them unimpeded. Materials cannot behave any stranger.”

Its distilling properties were an unexpected discovery, Geim and Nair said.

“Just for a laugh, we sealed a bottle of vodka with our membranes and found that the distilled solution became stronger and stronger with time,” Nair said. “Neither of us drinks vodka but it was great fun to do the experiment.”