In this blog post, we’ll explore what graphene is—a material that originated from a simple experiment using adhesive tape—how it was discovered, the outstanding properties that make it useful in real-world industries, and the industrial potential and remaining challenges for graphene as of 2026.
Who will win the Nobel Prize? People often assume that scientists who achieve breakthroughs through highly complex experimental equipment and methods are the ones who earn the honor of the Nobel Prize. However, in 2010, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics to two Russian-born scientists, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, for using adhesive tape to isolate graphene—a single-atom-thick layer—from graphite and studying its properties. The two scientists successfully isolated graphene and elucidated its properties in 2004, and in 2010, they received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their “pioneering experiments on the two-dimensional material graphene.” Given this, questions naturally arise: What kind of material is graphene that it could be isolated through a relatively simple experiment, and why was this recognized as a groundbreaking research achievement that led to a Nobel Prize? To answer these questions, a comprehensive understanding of graphene’s structure, formation process, properties, and future prospects is necessary.
Graphene is a material composed of a single layer of carbon atoms—that is, a hexagonal honeycomb structure just one atom thick. Unlike other elements, carbon can bond in various ways; in nature, it exists in forms such as graphite, where carbon atoms are arranged in a hexagonal structure, or diamond, where carbon atoms are strongly bonded in a three-dimensional lattice. Graphite consists of layers of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal structure stacked one on top of another, while diamond features carbon atoms strongly bonded in a three-dimensional structure. In contrast, graphene is a structure corresponding to a single layer of the multiple layers that make up graphite, in which carbon atoms form a hexagonal honeycomb lattice in a two-dimensional plane. Although this single-atom-thick carbon structure had long been considered theoretically possible, it was not easy to actually isolate it stably for research. In particular, doubts were raised for a long time as to whether a single-atom-thick crystal structure could actually exist stably. However, in 2004, Geim and Novoselov successfully isolated graphene from graphite and confirmed its properties, opening a new path for research into two-dimensional materials. Despite being a material with an extremely simple structure—a honeycomb arrangement of pure carbon—actually isolating it, observing it, and studying its properties was by no means a simple task.
So, let’s find out how the recipients of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics were able to produce graphene. As mentioned earlier, graphene, which consists of a single layer, can be obtained by isolating a single layer from graphite, which is composed of multiple stacked layers of carbon. The two scientists focused on this method and used adhesive tape as a tool to peel off very thin layers of graphite. First, they attached a piece of graphite to the adhesive side of one piece of tape; then, by pressing the adhesive side of another piece of tape against it and peeling them apart, the graphite was split into thinner pieces. By repeating this process with new pieces of tape, the graphite pieces became progressively thinner. The two scientists believed that this mechanical exfoliation process could lead to the creation of layers as thin as a single atom, and they actually succeeded in isolating graphene. According to the Nobel Foundation, they used ordinary adhesive tape to obtain a single-atom-thick layer of carbon from graphite—the kind used in pencils—and subsequently verified the graphene after transferring it onto a suitable substrate and measured its properties.
The key point is that this was not a process of chemically synthesizing graphene from scratch, but rather a process of physically separating the layered structure present in graphite to obtain graphene. Therefore, the significance of the research at that time lies not only in the simple experimental method itself but also in the fact that it experimentally confirmed that such a thin carbon layer can indeed exist stably and exhibit unique physical properties. Following this discovery, graphene established itself as the central material in research on new two-dimensional materials.
The discovery and isolation of graphene received such high acclaim not only because of the simplicity of the process but also because of the unique properties of the isolated graphene itself and the diverse possibilities arising from them. Due to its distinctive thin, honeycomb-like structure, graphene exhibits several superior properties compared to existing materials. The electrons of carbon atoms are involved in forming bonds between atoms or in determining electrical properties. In graphene, each carbon atom is bonded to three neighboring carbon atoms, and the electrons that do not participate directly in these bonds can move along the plane, resulting in high electrical conductivity. For this reason, graphene has garnered attention as an excellent electrical conductor and is also known for its exceptional ability to conduct heat. Furthermore, despite its extremely thin, single-atom-thick structure, it is mechanically strong and possesses high transparency, allowing a significant amount of light to pass through. The Nobel Committee also describes graphene as a material that is very thin yet strong, conducts electricity and heat well, and is nearly transparent. These characteristics are among graphene’s most significant advantages. By effectively conducting electricity while being extremely thin and lightweight, and simultaneously possessing high mechanical properties and transparency, graphene offers possibilities distinct from those of existing materials.
Thanks to these characteristics, graphene is expanding its range of applications as one of the advanced materials set to lead future industries. Back in 2015, the most anticipated applications included display materials leveraging graphene’s transparency, as well as semiconductors and next-generation battery materials utilizing its high electrical conductivity. Additionally, applications that harnessed graphene’s diverse physical and chemical properties—such as inks, heat-dissipation materials, and high-strength composite materials—also garnered significant attention. While some of these projections remain valid today, the industrial landscape in 2026 is evolving in a direction slightly different from the expectations of that time. According to an analysis of graphene commercialization published in 2024, more than 150,000 graphene-related patents have been filed in the 20 years since its isolation. While expectations for the semiconductor and optoelectronic device sectors were very high in the early days, analysis indicates that energy storage and polymer materials have emerged as the largest application areas to date. Therefore, it is more accurate to view graphene not simply as a material that will be commercialized at some point in the future, but rather as a material that is already being put to practical use and commercialized across various industrial sectors. At the same time, research and industrialization efforts continue in the electronics and optoelectronics sectors to integrate graphene and two-dimensional materials into existing silicon-based processes, and there are ongoing initiatives to establish pilot lines—close to actual industrial production—to validate the fabrication of electronic and optoelectronic devices.
Great scientific achievements sometimes begin with such simplicity. Graphene, discovered from a simple idea, has established itself as one of the key materials for future industries due to its outstanding electrical, thermal, mechanical, and optical properties. It has now moved beyond the stage of merely discussing its potential in laboratories and has entered a phase of exploring actual industrial applications. However, the industrial adoption of graphene has not progressed as rapidly across all fields as initially expected. Even today, key challenges in the graphene industry include not only mass production itself but also ensuring a stable supply of high-quality graphene suitable for specific applications, maintaining consistent properties throughout the production process, and achieving price competitiveness. In particular, the lack of sufficient standards and traceable quality criteria for evaluating graphene quality based on specific applications is cited as one of the major obstacles to industrial expansion. The Graphene Flagship’s latest technology and innovation roadmap also emphasizes the importance of standardizing material quality for industrial use while addressing various fields—such as composite materials and coatings, energy production and storage, electronic and optical devices, and biomedicine—to advance graphene’s industrialization. The Graphene Flagship’s 2025 activities continue to include research aimed at the technological development and commercialization of electronics, energy, composite materials, and biomedicine. Expanding production scale and standardization to apply graphene and two-dimensional materials to actual products and industrial systems are being addressed as key challenges. Ultimately, the future of graphene does not depend solely on whether it possesses exceptional physical properties, but rather on whether these properties can be reliably translated into the performance of actual products while simultaneously ensuring productivity and economic viability. Just as the two scientists opened up a new field of research by isolating graphene from graphite through a simple yet unique idea involving adhesive tape, research will continue to expand the scope of graphene’s applications and enhance its industrial value through innovative ideas. Ingenious imagination and the potential for advancement that stems from it—this is the power of science and the power of humanity, as evidenced by the discovery of graphene and the current industrial challenges it faces.
