Graphene is a form of carbon in which carbon atoms are arranged in a hexagonal shape and consist of two-dimensional surfaces. Although graphene is very light, it is 200 times stronger than steel. It conducts electricity very well. Since it has a flexible structure, it can be used in many structures. Graphene is mentioned as one of the most critical components of nanotechnology as a one-atom-thick and two-dimensional nanomaterial.
Graphene was obtained for the first time in 2004. The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics was won by Andrei Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, the inventors of graphene. These two scientists have obtained graphene from graphite, which is also found in a pencil, and they have conducted various experiments to observe the potential of graphene. Novoselov has made the following remarkable statements about graphene being a miraculous material:
“Graphene is a unique crystal in a sense that it has singlehandedly usurped quite a number of superior properties: from mechanical to electronic. This suggests that its full power will only be realised in novel applications, which are designed specifically with this material in mind, rather than when it is called to substitute other materials in existing applications”.