Graphene: research now, reap next decade Deloitte Global predicts the total value of the graphene Graphene has been called a ‘wonder material’81, as it materials market in 2016 is likely to be in the low offers an unrivalled combination of tensile, electrical, tens of millions of dollars, equivalent to less than an thermal and optical properties. Significant investments hour’s projected revenues from smartphone sales have been made in recent years which could hasten this year. Research and development spending on the pace at which we start to see more practical graphene is likely to be in the hundreds of millions of applications of graphene and new technologies. For dollars in 2016; in the medium term, graphene may example, the European Union has invested $1.3 billion be incorporated into products worth many billions in ‘The Graphene Flagship’, a consortium of academic of dollars per year, but it may be decades before this and commercial researchers82. The UK Government has material’s potential is fully realized. provided £235 million ($353 million) to fund a graphene 83 research center . Tech companies are investing in In 2016, while there are expected to be a few dozen developing their understanding of the material. commercially available products that include graphene, Samsung for example has already applied for hundreds the material is likely to be a composite. For example, 84 of graphene-related patents . graphene could be incorporated to improve the strength and weight of the carbon fibers used to manufacture Graphene is a single atom thick two-dimensional 80 sports equipment . structure, which is a million times thinner than a human hair or a sheet of paper. It is based on graphite, which in turn is a crystallized form of carbon, one of the most abundant elements in the world. A team of scientists from Manchester won the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics for isolating small amounts of graphene, by applying sticky tape to chunks of graphite and then peeling the 85 layers off one by one , leaving a layer of graphene on 86 the tape . Figure 6: Graphene predictions timeline Large First graphene scale use of Graphene Graphene- scientific paper graphene- batteries in Infrared vision enhanced published enhanced smartphones contact lenses construction carbon fiber materials composites 2004: Discovery 2010 Further into the future… Graphene Graphene Nobel Prize touchscreens water filtration Smart plasters awarded in smartphones systems introduced Source: Deloitte Global, 2015 14