Graphene Could Change Everything

In 2010, two Russian-born scientists from the UK were awarded the Nobel prize for physics for experiments with a material known as graphene. Four years later, Samsung is stockpiling patents on the one atom-thick material. What's all the hoopla about?

For starters, let's clarify what the hell graphene even IS. Not being a scientist and lacking the lexicon necessary to explain its specific scientific properties, my description will be in extreme laymen's terms (Wikipedia). Quite basically, graphene is "pure carbon in the form of a very thin, nearly transparent sheet, one atom thick." First created in a lab in 2004, graphene has since taken the world by storm with its fantastic and almost science fiction like properties. It's 100 times stronger than steel and is hyper-conductive. Researchers utilizing this hyper-conductivity have found that it charges batteries in seconds, leaving no negative environmental waste behind. In addition, it has the potential to be used in water filtration, speed up an internet connection by one million times, and turn computers and phones into shape-shifting devices.

Regarding that last point, Samsung has already developed the Youm Flexible OLED Displays and demonstrated the technology last year. (The demonstration begins at 3:19)

While foldable phones are far from being earth-shattering, the implications are. Graphene has the capacity to turn phones and computers into a single thin screen that can turn into literally any sort of computer. Think the Minority Report computer in your pocket. It sounds hyperbolic but it may be closer than you think. With major tech companies like Samsung and IBM stockpiling large amounts of graphene patents (and Apple trailing behind with only two), we can expect heavily researched methods of utilizing this material in the near future. Who knows? You may be carrying a paper thin, all purpose computer to work in twenty years.

On the business side of things, experts err on the side of caution when considering graphene stock investments. That said, there's no telling how absolutely through the roof this product could go, considering its wide range of utility. It's worth keeping an eye on, prospective millionaires. (Full disclosure: I am not an investment expert)

It's still in the early stages of development and most of what we think graphene can do is the product of nerdy daydreaming and journalistic conjecture. But that doesn't mean that this minuscule substance doesn't have the capability to literally change everything about the tech industry, let alone the world.