Graphene is a form of carbon that has recently received a lot of attention. Some have come to call it "the miracle material" because of its many extraordinary properties. Although isolated in 2004, graphene's properties had been calculated decades earlier. It is made up of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. A single sheet of graphene is stronger than steel while remaining very flexible, retaining all of its properties even if it is folded and unfolded several times. It is capable of withstanding extremely high electrical current densities, is impermeable to all gases, has a thermal conductivity double that of diamond and very high electron mobility at room temperature. It is also easily chemically functionalized, allowing its properties to be increased or modified depending on the manufacturing method or the presence of metal ions. Thanks to these numerous properties, the potential of graphene is almost unlimited. Its high electrical properties and gas impermeability make it ideal for use in ultracapacitors and fuel cells. Since it is carbon-based, it is able to work well with biological systems, making it ideal for bioapplications. Its thin sheets can be rolled into tubes for nanoelectronics. Its strong optical absorption gives it potential in phototonics, and it can be chemically modified to make it more suitable for each application. What is graphene? There is often a lot of confusion about what graphene actually is. Graphene is defined as a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. However, there are a number of materials often described as graphene, although they do not fit this description. This is often called “virgin graphene”. The only few ways to achieve such...... middle of paper ......5 (2012). Accessed November 26, 2013, doi: 10.1126/science.121674410. Stoller, Maryl D. et al., “Graphene-Based Ultracapacitors,” Nano Letters 8 (2008). Accessed November 26, doi: 10.1021/nl802558y11. Mohanty, Nihar and Vikas Berry, “Graphene-based single-bacteria resolution biodevice and DNA transistor: interfacing graphene derivatives with nano- and micro-scale biocomponents,” Nano Letters 8 (2008): accessed 26 November 2013 doi: 10.1021/nl802412n12. “Dream Screens from Graphene,” Rice University News and Media, last modified August 2, 2011, http://news.rice.edu/2011/08/02/dream-screens-from-graphene-2/13 . “Graphene fuel cell catalyst claims to outperform platinum equivalent,” Fuel Cell Today, last modified June 6, 2013, http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/news-events/news-archive/2013/june/graphene -fuel-cell -catalyst-claimed-to-outperform-platinum-equivalent