Top Ten High-End Applications of Graphene: Unmeasurable Value
Graphene, with a thickness of just 0.35 nm, is the thinnest two-dimensional material discovered to date. Its excellent properties in optics, electronics, thermodynamics, and mechanics enable it to be applied across various industries, making its value immeasurable.

Thanks to graphene’s outstanding performance and unique structure, it has found widespread applications in fields such as electronics, nanofibers, aerospace, defense, medicine, shielding materials, thermal materials, energy storage materials, sensors, and other advanced composites.

01 Defense Equipment
Graphene’s high strength allows it to be used as a reinforcement material in military platforms, armor materials, and personal protective equipment, surpassing all known reinforcement materials. Its unique electronic structure enables applications in various electronic devices like MEMS, FETs, storage devices, modulators, lasers, and sensors, potentially transforming their application scenarios. Additionally, graphene shows significant advantages in stealth materials and water purification. Many countries prioritize the development of the graphene industry strategically.

02 Thermal Management
In high-speed aircraft and microelectronics, thermal management is crucial for quickly transferring heat from electronic components to cooling materials to prevent failure due to excessive temperatures. Traditional materials like copper and aluminum struggle in extreme environments due to their high density and thermal expansion. Graphene’s superior in-plane thermal conductivity (~5300 W/(m·K)), low density (<2.2 g/cm³), and excellent thermal stability make it an ideal high-performance thermal management material for extreme conditions.

03 Electromagnetic Shielding
Graphene-based materials, with their unique electromagnetic properties and outstanding mechanical strength, are among the best choices for lightweight electromagnetic shielding with high efficiency across a wide frequency range. Research indicates that single-layer graphene can achieve an electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of up to 16.5 dB and a shielding rate of 97.8% for incident electromagnetic waves. Techniques to structure graphene can significantly enhance its conductivity and shielding performance.

04 Flexible Electronics
Graphene’s high transmittance (only 2% absorption) makes it a promising material for flexible electronics and optoelectronic devices. While chemically produced graphene may have lower conductivity, its low cost and large film area ensure its wide application in flexible electronics and circuits. Studies show that even after 25% deformation, touch screens made with graphene maintain good electrical and mechanical performance, suggesting it could replace indium tin oxide as a new type of transparent electrode.

Graphene, with its large surface area, unique optical properties, excellent conductivity, high carrier mobility, and thermal conductivity, is a natural fit for sensor applications. Its large surface area enhances the loading of target biomolecules, while its outstanding conductivity and small bandgap facilitate electron conduction between biomolecules and the electrode surface. Each particle within the graphene sheet is in an enclosed condition, allowing it to detect changes in the surrounding environment at the micrometer level, resulting in high sensitivity. Graphene can also distinguish subtle disturbances at the atomic level, making it suitable for various sensor types, including biosensors, DNA sensors, chemical sensors, and gas sensors.

06 Solar Cells
Graphene’s excellent transparency, high electron mobility, and low resistivity present significant potential for solar cell applications. Using graphene as an anode can fundamentally address issues such as low thermal stability and high costs associated with current transparent conductive electrode materials. Compared to conventional monocrystalline silicon cells, the cost of graphene solar cells can be reduced by about 30%.

07 Supercapacitors
Graphene is widely used in supercapacitor electrodes due to its large surface area, flexibility, mechanical strength, and conductivity. Currently, graphene’s applications in supercapacitors primarily fall into two categories: as an independent electrode material or as a composite electrode formed by mixing graphene with metals, metal oxides, or conductive polymers. Graphene quantum dots or powders can be assembled into zero-dimensional (0D) electrode materials, while graphene fibers or yarns can form one-dimensional (1D) materials, and graphene films or sheets can create two-dimensional (2D) electrode materials. These can be combined with metal oxides/hydroxides or conductive polymers to form three-dimensional (3D) electrode structures.

08 Semiconductors
Field-effect transistors (FETs) are a new type of semiconductor device that uses current in the input circuit to control the output loop. Many current transistors use electrode materials like gold and aluminum, which have high resistance, lack flexibility, and are resource-intensive. Graphene shares similar chemical properties with aluminum, offering its advantages while overcoming its drawbacks. Graphene’s chemical stability is greater than aluminum’s, with higher electron mobility and lower contact resistance with adjacent materials. High-speed transistors with shorter channels can respond quickly. Currently, graphene FETs are classified into two types: bottom-gate and top-gate. Bottom-gate structures are simpler to fabricate but have larger parasitic capacitance, making integration difficult. Top-gate structures feature smaller parasitic capacitance and are easier to integrate with other devices. Graphene FETs are widely used in both analog and digital circuits.

09 Biomedicine
Graphene has applications in biomedicine for gene delivery and developing biomaterials to improve and restore the function of tissues and organs. Graphene-based nanomaterials are exploring new directions in wound healing, regenerative medicine, tissue, and stem cell engineering due to their superior mechanical properties (such as strength, elasticity, and flexibility) suitable for flat surfaces and various functions. Additionally, graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide, and graphene quantum dots exhibit high surface areas, providing ample drug loading capacity and biocompatibility.

10 Antibacterial Materials
Graphene oxide, a carbon-based nanomaterial, is derived from the exfoliation of graphite and features oxygen-containing functional groups such as hydroxyl (-OH), carboxyl (-COOH), and aldehyde (-CHO) groups. It is known to exhibit antibacterial mechanisms distinct from traditional antibiotics, with its antibacterial action starting from interactions with bacterial cells. Overall, its effects can be categorized into bacterial cell membrane disruption, oxidative stress, and bacterial capture and encapsulation. The unique antibacterial mechanism of graphene oxide requires interaction with bacteria to trigger its antibacterial properties, which can be influenced by physical and chemical factors, including morphology, external environment, usage conditions, and antibacterial additives. Currently, graphene oxide is widely used in various fields such as biomedicine, water treatment, coatings, and textiles for its antibacterial applications.