THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister K N Balagopal is presenting the first full budget of the second Pinarayi government in the assembly. The finance minister is presenting the budget targeting next 25 years. The budget has allocated funds for a number of future projects in the field of education. Notable among these was funding for the graphene research field, which has been described as the wonder substance of tomorrow. Graphene is believed to have the potential to revolutionize human life. Graphene, which is at the same time transparent and conducts electricity, is very important. So it is going to be a big change for the electronics industry. The India Innovation Centre for Graphene, established by the Government of Kerala and the Department of Information and IT is conducting research in this area.

Tata Steel has been selected as the industrial partner of cement and Digital University as the project's implementing agencies. The first instalment of 15 crore has been set apart in the budget for the research project to develop this institute.

What is graphene?
Graphene is a two-dimensional substance. Lightweight and kinetic graphene can be described as a layer of graphite. Its specificity is that the driving force is much higher than other materials. Graphene is lighter and stronger. This material is currently used to increase the light absorption capacity of the photo diode in the camera. Graphene is also used to increase the strength of cement. Its use ranges from nano scale to large scale materials. Therefore, graphene is a substance of great industrial importance. Realizing the importance of industry, China is rapidly prioritizing graphene-based operations. Graphene production is expensive.

Graphene was discovered in 2004 by Russian scientists Andrei Game and Konstantin Novoselov at the University of Manchester in England. For this she was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. Graphene is a flat layer of two-dimensional carbon atoms about the thickness of a single atom, with a hive-like dense crystalline structure. The name graphene is derived from the word 'ein', which refers to double-bonded carbon compounds with the name graphite. The crystalline structure of ordinary graphite (pencil lead) is composed of several layers of graphene stacked one on top of the other. The graphene layer is an infinite repetition of a structure made up of six carbon atoms bonded in a hexagonal shape. Because of the thickness of only one atom and the bond distance between carbon atoms is only 0.142 nanometers, about 70 million sheets of graphene can be stacked one on top of the other, only one millimeter thick. Graphene is the most basic constituent of other forms of carbon, such as coal, carbon nanotubes, and fullerene molecules. When graphene is rolled, it becomes fullerenes, if it is rolled uniformly, it becomes carbon nanotubes, and if it is stacked in three dimensions, it becomes graphite.