Two professors at the University of Manchester in England, Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim have won a Nobel Prize in 2010 for their work with Graphene.

Graphene is a one-atom-thick planar sheet of sp2-bonded carbon atoms. These atoms are packed extremely dense into a honeycomb crystal lattice. Graphene gets its name from graphite. If you take a piece of graphite, you will see that it consists of a bunch of graphene sheets stacked on top of each other.

Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics, “for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material, graphene”.

“I didn’t expect the Nobel Prize this year. I just try to muddle on as before,” Andre Geim explained.

It is extremely difficult to work with graphene since it is the thinnest material ever discovered. It is the most highly conductive material of both heat and electricity, while still being stronger than a diamond.

Upon its discovery graphene has been called a “wonder material”. What Novoselov and Geim did that was so amazing, is that they discovered a way to isolate sheets of graphene from simple graphite. This discovery came back in 2004, and may lead to many new innovations in technology such as touch screens, solar cells, and more. It may also lead to advancements in medicine, and many other industries. Graphene transistors could become a lot faster than the silicon ones we use today in computer equipment.

“Imagine 100 years ago and someone found amazing properties of polymers, and at that moment, you don’t know what to do with polymers — you can only imagine the range of applications. I hope that graphene and other two-dimensional crystals will change everyday life as plastics did for humanity,” said Geim.

One day we may look back at Geim and Novoselov as two people who helped the world become a better place.