Graphene may be the material of the future

It's super strong, super slim and almost transparent, but why all the fuss about a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon?

After almost a decade of being talked up as a discovery that would change the world, the rush for "miracle material" graphene is about to begin. What happens next is down to science - or rather the industrialisation of scientific theory - but eventually we could see ultralight aircraft, flexible smartphones, paint that soaks up solar energy and even microsieves that can rid seawater of its salinity.

Single layers of graphene were first extracted from graphite in 2004 at the University of Manchester by Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim - both of whom won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in 2010. Graphene's properties mean it could become as important a material as plastics, silicon and steel.

"Graphene has been called a miracle material, and it has attracted a lot of research and private sector interest," says Philip Shapira, professor of innovation management and policy at University of Manchester Business School. "Numerous companies, large and small, around the world are working with graphene, and thousands of patent applications have been filed."

It's likely that graphene - said to be hundreds of times stronger than steel and able to conduct electricity at super high-speed - will be used in many gadgets, vehicles and constructions. "There seems to be at least six major clusters of potential applications of graphene," says Shapira. "Screens and displays; memory chips and electronic processors; biomedical devices and sensors; batteries; coatings, inks and fillers; and materials."

However, it's in display screens that graphene - which has yet to be produced in commercial quantities - could have the biggest initial impact. Put graphene in plastic and it provides strength; stronger plastics could be used to make ever lighter aircraft, wind turbines and satellites. A graphene layer either in or on plastic would also conduct electricity.