Graphene moves from hype to reality

China leads the way

China has emerged as a key territory for graphene production. In China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) that started in 2016, new materials development is listed among the leading sectors of the national economy.

Around 3,000 Chinese companies are exploring uses for graphene, according to government statistics, while half of the world's graphene-related patents have been filed in China.

China now has close to 75 percent of the nominal global production capacity for graphene, according to IDTechEx, and the price of graphene has fallen from several thousand dollars a gram to around $75 a kilogram during the last decade. Production capacity is expanding, as foreign companies follow demand and establish operations in China.

UK-based advanced materials engineering company Versarien is currently building a graphene factory in Jinan, Shandong province.

"It's a brand-new science, and China is trying to take the lead, and is willing to invest heavily to create that lead," said Neill Ricketts, chief executive at Versarien.

Ghaffarzadeh predicts that, during the next five to 10 years, graphene will mostly be restricted to the additive market.

"But that is not to say that there won't eventually be those truly groundbreaking results down the line," he said. "Graphene really does have fantastic properties and its potential is huge."