Graphene, the wonder material, one dimensional single atom layer thick, sp2 hybridized Carbon atoms, has been the hottest topic in research these days, since the discovery of its exceptional properties in 2004 by Professor Andre Geim and his team at University of Manchester. Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 was awarded jointly to Professor Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, “for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene”.
There are now thousands of researchers, scientists, engineers and students who are working on the efficient and commercial production, synthesis, and application of this material. Though graphene applications have remained only inside the laboratories till now, it is expected that, within next few years, we shall see some flexible displays, solar cells, energy storage devices, etc made of graphene.
So what is graphene?
It is harder than diamond, but can stretch like rubber. It is superb conductor of electricity, better than Copper wires. It is almost invisible and weighs almost nothing.
The very same pencil lead (yes, it’s graphite!) that we use for writing is made of millions of layers of the same material ‘graphene’.
As a student, my encounter with graphene is very new and currently being involved in graphene led me to dig in to the root of the graphene foundation, that is today. From the biography of Professor Andre Geim to the recent studies in production of graphene, I am a learning kid, one of those thousands who are now walking in the graphene road.
Suggestions for further reading in graphene and more:
Graphene (wikipedia article)
Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010
Professor Andre Geim (Biography)
Random Walk to Graphene, (Nobel Lecture by Prof Andre Geim)
Professor Andre Geim
And of course there are thousands of publications, many pioneer scientists and researchers and wide range of publicity about graphene, which I am not able to mention here. If you have (further) questions about this exceptional material after reading this post, my objective is fulfilled. I simply wanted to express how I started and how one could start. If you are now following any of these links above, you are already on the road to GREPHENE.