According to ACS’ Nano Letters, it was.
Of the 10 most read Nano Letters articles in 2012, 8 had graphene as their subject of study. But this trend is not new, as the 2011 top-10 list by Nano Letters had 7 graphene-focused papers. ACS Nano, another highly technical nanotechnology journal also lists various graphene papers as their most popular.
Graphene is a single sheet of carbon atoms, interconnected hexagonally to form an incredible thin and wide honeycomb-like nanolayer, so it can be described as a perfectly manicured version of graphite. Known for its electrical, optical, and mechanical, and thermal properties, graphene is a promising nanomaterial for multiple sustainable applications, from water purification and desalinization to high-efficiency solar energy harvesting. There are so many possibilities that graphene may become the nanomaterial of the decade.
Here’s the 2012 list (provided by Nano Letters):
High Efficiency Graphene Solar Cells by Chemical Doping
Xiaochang Miao, Sefaattin Tongay, Maureen K. Petterson, Kara Berke, Andrew G. Rinzler, Bill R. Appleton, Arthur F. Hebard (2012). DOI: 10.1021/nl204414u
Water Desalination across Nanoporous Graphene
David Cohen-Tanugi, Jeffrey C. Grossman (2012). DOI: 10.1021/nl3012853
Large Area, Few-Layer Graphene Films on Arbitrary Substrates by Chemical Vapor Deposition
Alfonso Reina, Xiaoting Jia, John Ho, Daniel Nezich, Hyungbin Son, Vladimir Bulovic, Mildred S. Dresselhaus, Jing Kong (2009). DOI: 10.1021/nl801827v
Transparent, Conductive Graphene Electrodes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Xuan Wang, Linjie Zhi, Klaus Mullen (2008). DOI: 10.1021/nl072838r
Direct Imaging of DNA Fibers: The Visage of Double Helix
Francesco Gentile, Manola Moretti, Tania Limongi, Andrea Falqui, Giovanni Bertoni, Alice Scarpellini, Stefania Santoriello, Luca Maragliano, Remo Proietti Zaccaria, Enzo di Fabrizio (2012). DOI: 10.1021/nl3039162
Synthesis of Water Soluble Graphene
Yongchao Si, Edward T. Samulski (2008). DOI: 10.1021/nl080604h
Graphene Quantum Dots Derived from Carbon Fibers
Juan Peng, Wei Gao, Bipin Kumar Gupta, Zheng Liu, Rebeca Romero-Aburto, Liehui Ge, Li Song, Lawrence B. Alemany, Xiaobo Zhan, Guanhui Gao, Sajna Antony Vithayathil, Benny Abraham Kaipparettu, Angel A. Marti, Takuya Hayashi, Jun-Jie Zhu, Pulickel M. Ajayan (2012). DOI: 10.1021/nl2038979
Remotely Activated Protein-Producing Nanoparticles
Avi Schroeder, Michael S. Goldberg, Christian Kastrup, Yingxia Wang, Shan Jiang, Brian J. Joseph, Christopher G. Levins, Sneha T. Kannan, Robert Langer, Daniel G. Anderson (2012). DOI: 10.1021/nl2036047
Graphene-Based Supercapacitor with an Ultrahigh Energy Density
Chenguang Liu, Zhenning Yu, David Neff, Aruna Zhamu, Bor Z. Jang (2010). DOI: 10.1021/nl102661q
Graphene-Based Ultracapacitors
Meryl D. Stoller, Sungjin Park, Yanwu Zhu, Jinho An, Rodney S. Ruoff (2008). DOI: 10.1021/nl802558y
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