Wonder Material

Though hypothesised many years ago, Graphene was accidentally discovered in 2004 by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at the University of Manchester. Following its discovery, the scientific community went into hyperbolic diarrhoea singing paeans of the properties of the wonder material – strength, electrical and thermal conductivity, magnetism, etc .  A Utopian world with its myriad applications was conceived. But 13 years later, the commercialisation of Graphene is still painfully slow. Much of its potential remains unrealised. 

The major reason for Graphene’s slow uptake is that nobody was looking for it; it arrived accidentally as a serendipitous discovery. We need to figure out what we want to use it for. The only significant Graphene-based commercial products so far are tennis rackets, smartphone touchscreens and conductive ink for printed electronics.  Among future applications, one that holds out most promise is energy storage. A Spanish company claims it is close to offering Graphene batteries with 5 times more energy density than Lithium-ion batteries.  Others say that Graphene can double the output of photovoltaic cells. Medical imaging is another promising area. But these are in future and depend on volumes, purity and cost.

With incredible physical properties Graphene is indeed a dream material. It is super flexible and yet tougher than diamond. It conducts electricity faster than any other known substance and conducts heat 10 times faster than copper. It also exhibits high degree of bio-compatibility. And it is incredibly durable. With a resume like that, Graphene has the potential to disrupt our world.