Graphene

Graphene is a form of carbon, the basis of all known life on earth. Graphene is one of the strongest, lightest and most conductive materials known to humankind. 

Imagine “crystals one atom or molecule thick, essentially two-dimensional planes of atoms shaved from conventional crystals,” said Nobel winner Andre Geim in New Scientist. “Graphene is stronger and stiffer than diamond, yet can be stretched by a quarter of its length, like rubber. Its surface area is the largest known for its weight.”

“It’s about the smallest you can get,” Novoselov told Wired Science. “From the point of view of physics, graphene is a goldmine. You can study it for ages.”

Graphene is attractive in terms of its strength, transparency, and conductive properties. 
The Manchester team in 2008 created a 1-nanometer graphene transistor, tinier than the smallest possible silicon transistor.

A new type of graphene-based, flash-like storage memory, more dense and less lossy than any existing storage technology was discovered. 

Companies currently using carbon nanotubes are beginning to switch to graphene, which is thinner and potentially less expensive to produce. Much of the emerging research is devoted to devising more ways to produce graphene quickly, cheaply and in high quantities.

Graphene could replace rare and expensive metals like platinum and indium, performing the same tasks with greater efficiency at a fraction of the cost.