What is graphene?

What is graphene?
In the field of new materials, graphene is undoubtedly a "star material" that holds a prominent position in the scientific community, being regarded as the "king of materials". The emergence of graphene has challenged people's understanding of traditional materials. With its unique structure and extraordinary properties, it has moved from the laboratory to industrial applications, and has widely permeated various fields closely related to our lives, such as graphene non-woven fabric and graphene medical applications. Today, we will comprehensively analyze graphene and understand its core value and application prospects as this "black technology material", as well as gain a deeper understanding of its practical applications in various fields.

I. Graphene Core Introduction: From Definition to Characteristics, Understanding the "King of Materials" with Confidence
Graphene is a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice material formed by carbon atoms through sp² hybridization orbitals. Strictly speaking, it is a two-dimensional carbon nanomaterial with a single atomic layer thickness, which is only 0.335 nanometers, approximately one ten-thousandth of the diameter of a hair; in practical applications, it is generally considered that a stacked structure of less than ten layers of graphene can still be called graphene. It is not a completely new form of carbon, but a "single-layer slice" of graphite - the familiar pencil lead and graphite we are familiar with are all composed of countless layers of graphene stacked together. In 2004, British Manchester University's Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov successfully isolated stable single-layer graphene using ordinary transparent tape and repeatedly adhering and peeling high-directional pyrolyzed graphite, breaking the theoretical prediction that "perfect two-dimensional crystals cannot exist stably at room temperature", and winning the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for the two scientists.
 

The "magical" properties of graphene stem from its unique structure, which endows it with extraordinary characteristics. This is the core底气for graphene to be called "the king of materials"， and these properties also lay the foundation for its wide application：

1. Excellent mechanical properties： The tensile strength reaches 130 gigapascals， 200 times stronger than steel， and the Young's modulus is approximately 1 TPa. Using a sheet of cling film thickness of graphene to make a hammock can withstand the weight of an adult elephant， and it has excellent flexibility， which can be repeatedly bent without damaging the performance；
2. Outstanding conductivity and heat conductivity： At room temperature， the electron mobility is far greater than that of silicon and copper， making it an excellent conductive material； the thermal conductivity is approximately 5300 W/(m·K)， 10 times that of copper， with extremely strong heat dissipation capacity， capable of quickly conducting heat without accumulation；
3. Other excellent characteristics： Single-layer graphene is almost transparent， absorbing only about 2.3% of visible light； the lattice structure is dense， and even the smallest helium atom cannot penetrate， with excellent barrier performance； at the same time， it has good biocompatibility and chemical stability， laying the foundation for applications in multiple fields.

It is worth noting that graphene is not a single material， but a family of graphene materials， including original graphene (Gr)， graphene oxide (GrO)， and reduced graphene oxide (rGrO)， which differ in conductivity， functional group potential， etc.， and are suitable for different graphene application scenarios.

II. Application of Graphene in Nonwoven Fabric Raw Materials: Empowering Traditional Industry Upgrading
  Nonwoven fabrics, as a type of fabric that does not require weaving and can be directly formed, are widely used in medical protection, hygiene care, environmental governance, etc. Although traditional nonwoven fabrics have advantages such as lightness and breathability, they have shortcomings in antibacterial, conductive, and heat-conductive properties. The addition of graphene precisely fills these gaps, promoting the upgrade of the nonwoven fabric industry to "functional and high-quality", making it an important innovation direction for graphene in nonwoven fabric raw materials, and further expanding the application scope of graphene.
The application of graphene in nonwoven fabric raw materials mainly includes two forms: one is to combine graphene with traditional nonwoven fabric raw materials such as polypropylene and polyester through in-situ surface modification technology to solve the compatibility problem between graphene and the substrate, achieving continuous and stable production; the other is to directly use graphene fibers, taking advantage of its self-fusion property to form porous, highly flexible, and highly conductive graphene nonwoven fabrics. Currently, China has achieved significant technological breakthroughs in this field. The "Key Technologies for the Manufacturing of Graphene-Polypropylene Functional Nonwoven Fabrics" jointly researched by Fangda Carbon and Lanzhou University has successfully passed the acceptance, laying the foundation for industrial application.
Based on the characteristics of graphene, the functional nonwoven fabrics empowered by it have three core application scenarios:
 

1. Medical Protection Field: Graphene-composite nonwoven fabrics have excellent antibacterial and anti-virus properties. The antibacterial rate against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, as well as the anti-viral activity rate against Influenza A (H3N2), all reach high standards. They can be used to make medical masks, protective suits, isolation gowns, etc., which can not only block particles but also inhibit bacterial growth, improving the protection level and providing support for public health security;

2. Hygiene Care Field: By utilizing the antibacterial and breathable properties of graphene, it can be used as the surface material for hygiene products such as diapers and sanitary napkins, effectively inhibiting bacterial reproduction, reducing odor generation, and improving the skin comfort and breathability of the fabric, enhancing the user experience; some graphene nonwoven fabrics can also adapt to different hygiene care scenarios by regulating hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity;

3. Industrial and Environmental Field: Graphene nonwoven fabrics have excellent conductive, heat-conductive, and adsorption properties. They can be used as gas diffusion layers for fuel cells, flexible battery electrode materials, or made into environmental adsorption materials such as filters, filter cores, and oil-absorbing felt, for wastewater purification, exhaust gas treatment, etc. At the same time, their excellent electrothermal properties can also be used to make electric heating fabrics and other products. In addition, composite nonwoven fabrics with 3-5% reduced oxide graphene can increase the thermal conductivity by 60%, have a temperature control response time of ≤ 3 seconds, and still maintain good performance after 50 washes, adapting to intelligent temperature control scenarios.

Compared with traditional nonwoven fabrics, graphene nonwoven fabrics have not only achieved a leap in performance but also have the advantages of controllable cost and scalable production. In the future, they will gradually replace traditional carbon paper and carbon cloth materials, becoming the core upgrade direction of the nonwoven fabric industry, and will further promote the in-depth application of graphene in industries such as industrial and medical protection.

II. Applications of Graphene in the Medical Field: From Auxiliary Treatment to Precision Medicine, Safeguarding Human Health
The medical field has extremely high requirements for the safety, biocompatibility, and functionality of materials. The unique properties of graphene precisely meet these demands. After more than two decades of development, research on graphene in the medical field has moved from the proof-of-concept stage to a stage focused on quantifiable therapeutic effects and clinical translatability. Currently, graphene is mainly applied in non-invasive monitoring, physical therapy, and tumor-assisted treatment, and some graphene-related technologies have achieved large-scale commercialization, bringing new breakthroughs to the medical industry.

Based on the current technological progress, the core applications of graphene in the medical field can be mainly divided into four directions, covering all scenarios of diagnosis, treatment, and care:

1. Non-invasive biochemical monitoring and early diagnosis: Graphene-based biosensors, with their high sensitivity and flexible adaptability, have become the core breakthrough for non-invasive monitoring. They can adhere to the skin and detect biochemical markers in sweat, saliva, tears, and breath to continuously track human physiological conditions - the original graphene is suitable for respiratory sensing, graphene oxide is adapted for protein detection in tears and saliva, and reduced graphene oxide can be used for electrochemical biosensing of sweat. More importantly, graphene field-effect transistor biosensors have achieved ultra-sensitive detection of biomarkers for neurological diseases (such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease) and cancer, combined with artificial intelligence technology, can optimize detection sensitivity, providing a new tool for early disease diagnosis, and have shown great potential in the field of immediate diagnosis.
2. Physical therapy and rehabilitation care: The far-infrared heating property of graphene is widely used in physical therapy. The 4–16 micron waves emitted by graphene can have "same-frequency resonance" with human tissues, promoting local microcirculation and accelerating the clearance of inflammatory factors. It has received national Class II medical device certification and is suitable for the auxiliary treatment of 23 diseases such as bronchitis, chronic gastritis, and knee arthritis. Research shows that graphene heat therapy can reduce the average size of benign thyroid nodules by 23.6%, and combined with chemotherapy, the inhibition rate of tumor cells can increase to 1.8 times that of chemotherapy alone; in addition, graphene intelligent wearable medical devices (such as heat protection suits, medical patches) have achieved large-scale commercialization and can be used for joint warmth preservation, muscle relaxation, etc., with the global market size reaching 12.7 billion US dollars in 2025, and is expected to approach 70 billion US dollars in 2030.
3. Tumor-assisted treatment: In December 2025, the "Research on the Anti-tumor Effect and Molecular Mechanism of Graphene Thermal Therapy" officially launched a clinical trial, jointly conducted by the Shenzhen Medical College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, etc. This technology utilizes the non-invasive far-infrared thermal effect of graphene (42℃ ± 1℃), which can selectively induce tumor cell apoptosis, and has a synergistic enhancing effect with chemotherapy drugs, providing a new auxiliary treatment option for solid tumors; in addition, amino acid-modified graphene nanocarriers can efficiently load anti-cancer drugs and achieve controlled release, showing good anti-cancer potential in animal experiments, providing a new platform for targeted drug delivery.
4. Medical implants and antibacterial applications: Graphene loaded with hydrophobic bactericidal molecules (such as lichen acid) can effectively inhibit the formation of biofilms by Staphylococcus aureus and other bacteria, and is expected to be used as an antibacterial coating for medical implants to reduce the risk of implant infection. Currently, this technology is still in the research stage and has not entered human clinical trials; Meanwhile, graphene hydrogel possesses tri-enzyme mimetic activity and can achieve a bacterial clearance rate of over 99% through the synergistic regulation of reactive oxygen species and photothermal therapy. It shows great potential in the treatment of infected wounds. Relevant studies have shown that the curcumin-loaded graphene oxide nanocomposite achieved a wound contraction rate of 93.88% within 9 days in a mouse model.

It should be noted that the application of graphene in the medical field is still in the initial stage of development. Currently, only some graphene external physiotherapy devices have obtained the national Class II medical device certification. Graphene has not been widely used as a drug or implant for internal human treatment. The long-term safety of graphene still requires further research. It is not recommended to use un-certified graphene medical products on your own.

IV. Moving Towards Graphene, Medical Technology Innovates the Future

From the significant discoveries in the laboratory to the industrial application of graphene in non-woven fabrics, medical fields, and other areas, graphene, with its extraordinary properties, has broken through the limitations of traditional materials and empowered the upgrading of multiple industries. As the "King of Materials", graphene is not only a new type of material but also an important force driving industrial innovation and improving the quality of life - in the field of graphene non-woven fabrics, it makes the fabric more functional and safer; in the field of graphene medical applications, it makes diagnosis more accurate and treatment more gentle, providing a more powerful safeguard for human health.
With the continuous breakthroughs in graphene technology, the application scenarios of graphene will continue to expand. In the future, graphene is expected to achieve breakthroughs in more fields and enter every aspect of our lives. We believe that in the near future, this "magical material" graphene will continue to shine, injecting new impetus into industrial upgrading and human development.