graphene

plural graphenes

1. chemistryAny polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon having the structure of part of a layer of graphite.
2. chemistryAn arbitrarily large-scale, one-atom-thick layer of graphite, an allotrope of carbon, that has remarkable electric characteristics.

   As a microbullet impacts the graphene, the diameter of the cone it creates – determined by later examination of the petals – provides a way to measure how much energy the graphene absorbs before breaking.

   2014 December 1, Mike Williams, “Microbullet hits confirm graphene’s strength”, in Rice University

   2 more examples

   Graphene is the strongest, thinnest material known to exist. A form of carbon, it can conduct electricity and heat better than anything else. And get ready for this: It is not only the hardest material in the world but also one of the most pliable. Only a single atom thick, it has been called the wonder material. Graphene could change the electronics industry, ushering in flexible devices, supercharged quantum computers, electronic clothing and computers that can interface with the cells in your body.

   2014 April 13, Nick Bilton, “Bend it, charge it, dunk it: Graphene, the material of tomorrow”, in The New York Times

   Graphene, which consists of monolayers of carbon atoms bonded in a repeating hexagonal pattern, is the thinnest known material. It was isolated in 2004 at the University of Manchester by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who went on to win a Nobel prize for their discovery.

   2022 May 18, “The wonder material graphene may have found its killer app”, in The Economist, →ISSN