The Graphene Portal
A single layer of carbon atoms in a hexagonal lattice — a million times thinner than a human hair, more conductive than copper, and flexible enough to wear as a shirt that stops bullets. This portal tracks graphene's history, measured properties, commercial uses from batteries to space travel, and the manufacturing race to make large sheets cheaply.
Thickness
0.335 nm
One atom thick
Tensile strength
130 GPa
~200x steel
Electrical conductivity
10⁶ S/m
Better than copper
Thermal conductivity
~5,000 W/mK
Beats diamond
Surface area
2,630 m²/g
Ideal for storage
Stretch
20–25%
Elastic before failure
Transparency
97.7%
Absorbs only 2.3% of light
Impermeability
Blocks helium
No gas passes through
Weight
0.77 mg/m²
Light enough for solar sails
Electron mobility
200,000 cm²/Vs
Fastest known
Graphene is a platform material. The same sheet is armour, an electrode, a membrane and a heat spreader depending on how it is processed.
Making graphene is easy. Making large volumes of consistent, high-quality graphene cheaply is the unsolved commercial problem.
Concrete, tyres, coatings and lubricants already ship with graphene powder. Continuous sheet applications are still arriving.
Reference content compiled from published research and company announcements. Figures marked as projections are industry estimates, not forecasts of our own, and nothing here is investment advice.