Manchester’s expertise in advanced materials – and particularly graphene – is expected to reap rich rewards for many years to come

Graphene is widely regarded to be the most important development in the world of advanced manufacturing to date.

The world’s thinnest, strongest and most conductive material was isolated at the University of Manchester in 2004.

The potential of graphene is vast and research is currently underway into everything from bendable electronics to portable, energy-efficient water filtration plants and corrosion-proof coatings, anti-cancer drugs and even energy sources sewn into people’s skin.

Last autumn, the National Graphene Institute received a major boost when China’s largest mobile phone manufacturer Huawei signed a partnership with the university to develop graphene-based technologies.

Huawei stated at the time that it wanted to explore the uses of graphene to develop the next generation of high-performance technologies in the ICT field.

The project will initially run for two years and seeks to explore ways of using graphene’s revolutionary applications in consumer electronics and mobile communication devices.