1947
Wallace theory
Graphite band structure foreshadowed graphene.
Graphene did not arrive as a finished commodity. Geim & Novoselov 2004 around Manchester still explains who makes it and which tests it sits in.
Ten dated points, five eras and three milestones below are the spine — not a complete industrial history.
Where it began
Geim & Novoselov 2004Manchester
Timeline
1947Wallace theory
Graphite band structure foreshadowed graphene.
1962Boehm TEM
Early thin-graphite observations.
2004Manchester isolation
Micromechanical cleavage made devices.
2010Nobel Prize
Physics prize froze the brand.
2013EU Graphene Flagship
A billion-euro coordination bet.
2010sCVD copper foils
Metre-scale films, polycrystalline.
2010sGO / rGO
Oxide routes for inks and composites — not the same as monolayer.
2018Standards ISO/TS
Vocabulary fights: few-layer vs nanoplatelets.
2020sConcrete additives
Dose-sensitive marketing vs independent tests.
2020sElectronics still waiting
Bandgap and contamination remain the plot.
The eras
2004
Manchester isolation
Micromechanical cleavage made devices.
2013
EU Graphene Flagship
A billion-euro coordination bet.
2010s
GO / rGO
Oxide routes for inks and composites — not the same as monolayer.
2020s
Concrete additives
Dose-sensitive marketing vs independent tests.
Milestones
Nobel Prize
2010Physics prize froze the brand.
GO / rGO
2010sOxide routes for inks and composites — not the same as monolayer.
Electronics still waiting
2020sBandgap and contamination remain the plot.
Knowing this timeline is how to read a mill certificate without treating Graphene as timeless.
Keep exploring
More in Advanced solids
🏎️
Carbon fibre
Polymer-derived filaments with graphite-like sheets — aero, bikes and a fire story that is about the resin, not the fibre.
Overall 49 ☁️Aerogel
A nanoscale silica sponge — among the lowest solid λ values, fragile unless blanketed, and A1 when purely inorganic.
Overall 60 🩺Nitinol
Near-equiatomic Ni–Ti that remembers shape and super-elasticates — stents, orthodontics and actuators.
Overall 48 ☀️Perovskite (PV)
ABX3 halide crystals that jumped laboratory solar efficiency — still fighting humidity, lead and lifetime.
Overall 26