Getting in on the ground level: There are tons of career opportunities in this exciting field.

If you’ve been following this space, you will have noticed that we have an interest in graphene, a so-called miracle material that was discovered in Manchester, England, in 2004. As a refresher, graphene consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice nanostructure. It has a number of characteristics that have quickly made it a valuable commodity, including exceptionally high tensile strength, electrical conductivity, thermal control, anti-bacterial and anti-odor properties, and more. In a recent panel discussion conducted by The Graphene Council, one of the key questions that emerged is with all of these benefits, why has it taken graphene so long to take hold and reach critical mass.

It’s interesting that it has been less than 20 years since graphene was discovered. That seems like a long time, but in the world of science, perhaps not so much. It’s always interesting to look back in history to see how other materials have performed. Let’s look at aluminum, for example. According to Wikipedia, attempts to produce aluminum metal date back to 1760, but the first success was not achieved until 1824. Work continued for several years, but it was unable to be produced at scale. At one point, because it was relatively rare, aluminum’s cost exceeded that of gold. Hard to imagine now, where aluminum is around us everywhere, and so inexpensive that we wrap our food in it and toss it in the trash once we unwrap the food, as pointed out by Terrance Barkan, Executive Director of the Graphene Council, in the panel discussion. By the middle of the 20th century, aluminum had become a part of everyday life. So if you consider the starting point to be 1824, that’s more than 125 years.