Wafer-thin, stretchy and strong as steel: could ‘miracle’ material graphene finally transform our world?

E-bikes, golf balls, tennis rackets, virus detection and bicycle tyres are among technologies to have benefited from graphene. Composite: Alamy; Getty

Twenty years ago, ­scientists announced they had created a new miracle material that was going to transform our lives. They called it graphene.

Consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexa­gonal pattern, it is one of the strongest materials ever made and, for good measure, it is a better conductor of electricity and heat than copper.