Graphene-recent advancements in its extraction, its comparative study with other materials and emerging applications

Graphene, a whole new structure of Carbon, was discovered by Geim and Novoselov in the year 2004. It is the thinnest, lightest and the strongest material ever existed. It is a monolayer of carbon atoms, which are tightly bound in the hexagon honeycomb lattice. It is the first two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystal. A large number of its material parameters such as mechanical stiffness, strength and elasticity, very high electrical and thermal conductivity, and many others are supreme. These properties suggest that graphene could replace other materials in existing applications. The combination of transparency, conductivity and elasticity will find use in flexible electronics, whereas transparency, impermeability and conductivity will find application in transparent protective coatings and barrier films. As a coating material, it can be used as the best anti-corrosion coating. Graphene can be reinforced with other compounds and provides great formability. It can be used as an alternative for the high strength to weight ratio requirements. Due to extremely high conductivity and flexibility, graphene is an ideal material for high speed electronics, transistors, data storage, LCDs, OLED displays, super capacitors, Solar Cells, Sensors etc. With such a great property, graphene has been an area of interest of both the experts and the layman. Graphene will be of even greater interest for industrial applications when massproduced graphene has the same outstanding performance as the best samples obtained in research laboratories. An attempt has been made to discuss recent advancements in its extraction, itscomparative evaluationwithother materialsandemerging applications.