Abstract
Graphene is an allotrope of carbon that is made up of very strongly bonded
carbon atoms. The structure of graphene is a hexagonal lattice. Graphene shows sp2
hybridization and an extremely thin atomic thickness of approximately 0.345Nm. This
chapter deals with graphene structure, including hybridization, critical parameters of
the unit cell, the formation of σ and π bonds, electronic band structure, edge
orientations, and the number and stacking order of graphene layers. The remarkable
characteristics of graphene occur because of the extended chain of π conjugation that
results in high charge mobility, high conductivity & high Young's modulus value. Due
to these attractive properties, graphene has gained much attention. Graphene, with the
unique combination of bonded carbon atom structures with its myriad and complex
physical properties is balanced to have a big impact on the future of material sciences,
electronics, and nanotechnology. Graphene is converted to Graphene nanoparticles,
Graphene oxide nanoparticles; Polymer-based graphene composite materials and
Graphene nanoribbons, etc by chemical methods. Some of the application areas are
batteries and ultracapacitors for energy storage and fuel cell and solar cell for energy
generation and some of the possible future directions of research have been discussed.