How a quiet night in lab changed science

Miracle material created in city is 200 times stronger than steel

- PAUL BRITTON

IT WAS a ground-breaking eureka moment of modern-day science which all came about thanks to a sliver of sticky tape and a simple lump of graphite, a naturally occurring form of carbon.

On a quiet Friday night in a lab at The University of Manchester in 2004, two scientists used the tape to peel off thin layers from the mineral.

They continued to peel until they got tiny flakes just an atom thick.

Graphene the made-in-Manchester miracle material - was born.

This week marks 20 years since Soviet-born Professors Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov made their discovery and in the two decades that have followed, graphene has been used to revolutionise everything from running trainers to cars and water filtration systems.

It's the world's thinnest material around one million times thinner than a single human hair but woven together, it is also 200 times stronger than steel.

First isolated at The University of Manchester, it's also the first two-dimensional material of just one atom thick.

Graphene is a two-dimensional material made of pure carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern. It's known and used widely for its high tensile strength, electrical conductivity and transparency.

Professors Geim and Novoselov both awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering work would hold what they called 'Friday night experiments' at the university, sessions where they would try out experimental science that wasn't necessarily linked to their day jobs.

One night, they successfully removed some flakes from a lump of bulk graphite with the sticky tape.

They noticed some flakes were thinner than others. By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick.

The experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

Both men were later knighted.