From 2004 to 2014: a fruitful decade for graphene research in China.

Abstract

Human beings have been familiar with carbon materials for thousands of years; however, acquaintance with a single layer of sp2 carbon atoms arose only in 2004 when Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov successfully isolated a monolayer of graphene. “Carbon, the basis of all known life on earth, has surprised us once again”. This statement stems from the press release by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences upon awarding the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics to the physicists from The University of Manchester for their “ground-breaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene”. The unprecedented physical properties and unique morphology of graphene have opened doors for the scientists towards a new realm of carbon nanomaterials. In just 10 years, graphene has become a dazzling star for researchers in many scientific disciplines worldwide. The potential applications of graphene in flexible electronics and energy storage/generation devices further drive international graphene research activities, which is reflected by a recent review of the patent landscape of graphene by the UK Intellectual Property Office. Graphene patent applications have doubled between 2010 and 2012, and there has been an order of magnitude increase in patent applications over the last five years, with a total of 8416 patents worldwide by February 2013. Recently, a roadmap for graphene was published in Nature, highlighting its possible future path in the fields of electronics, photonics, composite materials, energy generation and storage, sensors, and biomedicine. In 2013, the European Union launched the Graphene Flagship targeting the future applications of this wonder material. The fast development of scientific research in China in the past decade has enabled Chinese scientists to become major players in the realm of graphene research. In 2013, it was estimated that 2200 patents relating to graphene came from China. Moreover, many exciting results from graphene studies have been published by Chinese researchers in the last ten years. By the end of 2012, researchers in China had published more than 6000 papers on graphene, which in total were cited over 90 000 times. Science Daily has estimated that the rate of graphene related publications from China increases by more than 70% annually. In order to highlight the quality of graphene research coming from Chinese scientists, we have organized this Special Issue of Small, with contributions from leading research groups in China. This special issue contains 18 papers including 1 concept article, 6 review articles, 4 communications, and 7 full papers. The content of these papers covers a broad range of graphene research, including theory, synthesis and processing of graphene and graphene-like 2D materials, and their applications in electronics, energy storage, and catalysis. During the organization of this special issue, we have received invaluable support from Sir Andre Geim, co-discoverer of graphene, Dr. Jose Oliveira, Editor-in-Chief of Small, and Dr. Yan Li, Editor of Small. Our gratitude goes to the whole editorial team of Small for their enthusiastic pushing forward and professional editing. Last but not least, we are greatly indebted to all the contributing authors of this special issue. Although this special issue cannot cover all the progress made in graphene research in China, it reflects how Chinese scientists contribute to the development of graphene-based materials. We sincerely hope that this special issue will inspire readers to make more breakthroughs in research on graphene and other 2D nanomaterials. Moreover, it is anticipated that this special issue will further stimulate exciting collaborations between Chinese researchers and scientists worldwide.