A team of Chinese scientists from South China Normal University and Beihang University has used graphene to create an artificial gas detector that is as good as a dog’s nose. Their work showed that the graphene-based nanoscrolls can mimic a dog’s sensitive sniffer, which is lined with millions of tiny capillaries. Since the capillaries cover such a large surface area, they can detect smells at extremely low concentrations.

The PolyGraph project, a 4-year development project with aims to develop new production techniques to deliver industrial scale quantities of graphene-reinforced thermosetting polymers, has published its results.