Concrete may have found it's killer app in graphene, a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal pattern which is highly stiff and impervious to everything from bullets to oil. As a result, it could be used for a multitude of applications, from air housings, body armour, and other protective clothing to mobile phone cases and bike helmets. If graphene-reinforced body armour is developed, it could be used to protect soldiers from roadside bombs in warzones and police officers from muggings and shivs in inner cities. To do this the graphene will need to be incorporated into materials in a highly controlled way to ensure no microscopic cracks form and the material breaks. When graphene layers are stacked in a controlled pattern, the material can be stiff enough to withstand an explosion while still flexible enough to comfortably move with the human body. Graphene is strong, durable and transparent but not all the same things at once. It's been hailed as a wonder material, with researchers claiming it could be used to create everything from planes that run entirely on clean energy to revolutionary high-speed mobile phones. Graphene's unique properties of being flexible, transparent, light weight, and ultra strong make it the perfect material for making body armour. The potential applications for graphene are endless and even include making aeroplanes that run without fossil fuels, the researchers said. "If you want an aeroplane that runs on clean energy, then you would want a durable, tough aeroplane," said Dr James Mawhinney of the University of Manchester's Engineering department. Dr Mawhinney added: "If you use graphene in the body armour, it can withstand whatever you want it to withstand - a bullet, a bomb, anything you throw at it. "At the moment it's not cost effective, and our materials aren't tough enough to withstand a bullet, but if we can develop tougher materials, it could be the ideal material for body armour." Dr Nick Colaneri, from the University's School of Physics and Astronomy, added: "If you have a flexible material, then you can fit a whole lot more information into it. "In principle you can have a 'flat pack' of any design you like, and bend and stretch it into different shapes. "It's a fantastic material, but it is a highly complex structure and there is no real-life way of manufacturing it in a commercial sense." The graphene used for these tests was made from graphite, with one sheet of graphene costing about 0.5p. "These things are just as strong as Kevlar, but much lighter," said Mr Kevin Carter, one of the scientists involved in the work. "We wanted to show they had the potential for body armour because it's a good way to sell graphene." "We are going to need years of additional research to find the most useful ways of harnessing this extraordinary material, but there is no doubt graphene has the potential to change the world in so many ways - from electronic circuits to medical devices." "At present there is no other material that is as flexible, transparent and strong as graphene, yet scientists only discovered it in 2004," he said. When graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms only one atom thick, then the material is very transparent. This material could be used to produce smart clothing which would warn wearers about sudden changes in weather conditions or allow them to monitor their heart rates, blood pressure and body fat levels. The use of graphene in the body armour can help prevent blast injuries to combatants. The material is also very strong, which means that the armour could be worn without compromising the wearer's freedom of movement. Scientists are already working on developing the materials for use in the body armour, they are also looking into developing graphene structures for the treatment of wounds and cancer treatment. The next step will be to develop graphene-based materials that can be used as weapons, Mr Carter said. He added: "You wouldn't want a bullet made of graphene - but graphene armourplate would stop the bullet." "The most obvious application for graphene would be to replace the iron in our skyscrapers. "Because it's strong, light and flexible, we'd be able to make taller and stronger buildings with less use of steel, so there is some way it could be used for air and space travel," he said. Comments "Because it's strong, light and flexible, we'd be able to make taller and stronger buildings with less use of steel, so there is some way it could be used for air and space travel," he said. A way for us to breathe and float around in weightlessness. I bet scientists at Nasa are working on this already... ~~~ joejohnson _A way for us to breathe and float around in weightlessness._ And not have to consume calories, either. ~~~ morsch Graphene can be transparent. What does "not having to consume calories" even mean? ~~~ joejohnson I meant something more like fuel, in reference to spacecraft that consume fuel for thrust in order to reach orbit. ~~~ bduerst It can also be used to make self-healing fuel tanks, if applied in sufficiently thin layers and patterns. ------ jacques_chester I find this quite surprising. Graphene is a wonder material but very differently-sorted varieties are used in other materials. The properties are strongly dependent on the crystal structure, which is dependent on the order. AFAIK that includes diamond and cubic boron nitride, which can be used as a wonder material but also has fantastic military applications. _Edit: it was noted elsewhere that we've had this technology for a while, and that graphene is more the current hype vehicle._ ~~~ gammarator Graphene sheets are currently very expensive, and are therefore used as encapsulating layers to protect other materials from damage (e.g., armor). ------ GiraffeNecktie I was about to say this might be a new use for graphene but it is already being used for that purpose in Europe as I understand it. [http://www.google.com/search?q=graphene+armor&hl=en&...](http://www.google.com/search?q=graphene+armor&hl=en&safe=off&tbs=qdr:m&lr=lang_1de_de) ~~~ yequalsx Yes, it's been discussed here in the past few days. There was some controversy in Europe over a proposal to make body armor out of it. ------ brianpan Here is the