Graphene was first isolated in 2004 and its potential applications were recognized early, leading to the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics being awarded to its discoverers. While graphene has excellent thermal and mechanical properties and allows for high electron mobility, widespread commercial applications are still lacking. Large investments have been made in graphene research totaling over $2.4 billion but manufacturing costs remain high due to the energy-intensive production processes needed. While some graphene phones and touchscreens have begun limited production, traditional materials remain cheaper to use. Graphene's future prospects depend on reducing production costs and developing applications that leverage its unique properties and take advantage of its high frequencies for applications like transistors.

1. Graphene; Nobel or Novel?
What does the future hold for graphene?
First isolated in 2004 by researchers at the University of Manchester (UoM) [1], graphene was
well anticipated, and globally accepted within the scientific community. So much so that the
lead researchers, Geim and Kovoselov, were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010 [2].
Graphene’s practical potential was spotted early, as it has a very high thermal conductivity
(reaching values higher than 3000 WmK-1 compared to that of Copper which has a value of
380 WmK-1), mechanically, it can bend, withstanding high loads without plastic deformation
or failure, regardless of the form of graphene present (intrinsic strength of 130GPa) as well as
a very high Young’s Modulus of 1TPa [3]. It also has the inherent property of allowing
electrons to pass through it and a high optical absorption (πα ≈ 2.3%) [4]. All of these combined
mean that theoretically, there is a huge market for both commercial and scientific applications.
Yet the ground-breaking product which will transform man’s modern day life is still yet to
come. It was estimated by Lux Research in 2014 that the Global market for graphene would be
worth US$349-million by 2025, yet with no visible signs of any commercial break through, it
is feared that graphene’s fate will follow that of the carbon nanotube, as stated by Ross
Kozarsky in an interview given to Nature Journal [5]. This lack of graphene’s current practical
applications is also felt by other scientists at the Graphene Flagship research programme led
by the European Union, who have specifically tried to fast-track it from lab to commerce at the
expense of US$1.1-billion.
However, the lack of graphene related products hitting the shelves is by no means linked to a
lack of research. UoM, which houses the National Graphene institute, estimates that US$2.4-
billion has already been spent on research of graphene and its applicable roles in society. There
has been a number of publications, outlining in detail, specific applications of graphene and
how it compares to materials and components already in use. A report published in Nature [6]
makes reference to papers and research being made on these applications, which include; more
durable touchscreens for phones, replacing the current Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) screens,
transistors which will operate at higher cut-off frequencies (ƒT) and maximum oscillation
frequencies (ƒmax), electric paper (e-paper), paints and coatings, composite materials, and
advances in medicine with particular interest in drug delivery, regenerative medicine and the
detection of biological molecules (such as glucose, cholesterol, haemoglobin and DNA).
The manufacture of graphene has also exploded, particularly in the Far East and most notably
in China, where manufacturers enjoy reduced infrastructure costs, the wavering of government
grants, and vast government investments [5]. China also holds 45% of the world’s graphene
patents. However, 4% of these (9% of the world’s graphene patents), are only domestic. This
determination by China emphasises that Governments and companies worldwide do have faith
for the future of graphene, and are investing in hope of large returns.
With, therefore, large investments into both research and production, and with factories able to
manufacture large quantities of graphene nanoplatelets, the lack of products falls down to two

2. factors; technology and cost. Graphene products have started to be sold, but only in very small
quantities. In 2014, 2,000 graphene phones went on sale by Chinese technology-company
AWIT. This was shortly followed by technology giant Galaxy Microsystems in March 2015,
which saw 30,000 phones brought to the Chinese market [5]. However, traditional touch
screens (made from ITO’s) are much cheaper to manufacture, at approximately half the price
then the current manufacturing cost of US$64 per square meter for graphene. This is owing to
the main manufacturing techniques – chemical vapour deposition (CVD) [7] – which is
expensive due to the large energy consumption required to remove the underlying metal layer,
synthesis on Silicon-Carbide (SiC), which is expensive due to annealing temperatures of
manufacturing (above 1000oC) [8], and the costing of SiC wafers, and liquid phase exfoliation,
which involves aqueous solutions with suspended graphite to come into contact with material
surfaces. Prior to this, the solvent is chosen to have a surface tension to favour an increase in
total area of graphite crystals, and it is then prepared by the use of sound waves to agitate the
suspended graphite particles, causing them to split into individual layers of graphene. Similarly,
thermal exfoliation requires the oxidation of graphite pellets which are then suspended in
solution and agitated by Ultrasonic waves, deposited onto a surface, and reduced to produce a
graphene layer [9]. These have drawbacks as the process requires many stages, and therefore
the manufacturing time increases, and the graphene layers deposited are not all monoatomic.
In short, there does appear to be a future for graphene, and it will probably be a profitable one.
Money is a key driving factor in all aspects of life, and where there is the potential to make
high returns, agencies will focus lots of resources. Graphene is still in its early days of
development, and is yet to overcome several issues, some of which have been highlighted in
this document, in particular, manufacturing costs. Yet these are falling, and will continue to do
so as more people focus on how to reduce the manufacturing time, the energy required for
production and how to increase the percentage yield of the aforementioned manufacturing
processes. Technology is also yet to catch up with graphene. For example, high-frequency
transistors, where the necessity to make technology quicker means that transistors have to
operate at ever higher frequencies means that eventually, current III-V materials (compounds
containing elements from groups 3 and 5 of the periodic table) will no longer be able to achieve
these limits, and companies will have no choice but to use graphene instead.

3. References
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“ElectricFieldEffectinAtomicallyThinCarbonFilms,” Science, vol.306, pp.666-669, 2004.
[2] “The 2010 Nobel Prize inPhysics - PressRelease,”Nobelprize.org,7November2010. [Online].
Available:http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/press.html.
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sterengthof monolayergraphene,” Science, vol.321, pp.385-388, 2008.
[4] R. R. Nair,“Fine structure constantdefinesvisual transparencyof graphene,” Science, vol.320,
p. 1308, 2008.
[5] M. Peplow,“Grapheneboomsinfactoriesbylackskillerapp,” Nature, pp.268-269, 2015.
[6] K. S.Novoselov,V.I.Fal'ko,L.Colombo,P.R.Gellert,M.G. Schwabe K. Kim, “A road mapfor
graphene,”Nature, vol.490,pp. 192-200, 2012.
[7] X. S.Li, “Larger-areasynthesisof highqualityanduniformgraphene filmsoncopperfoils,”
Science, vol.324, pp.1312-1314, 2009.
[8] I. Forbeaux,J.M. Themline J.M. Debever,“Heteroepitaxial graphiteon6H-SiC(0001):interface
formationthroughconduction-bandelectronicstructure,”PhysicsReview, vol.58,nº B, pp.
16396-16406, 1998.
[9] E. L. Wolf,“Chapter2; Practical Productionsof Graphene,SupplyandCost,”em Applicationsof
Graphene,an overview,Switzerland,SpringerInternational Publishing,2014, pp.20-26.