Samsung graphene breakthrough could mean flexible phones sooner than we thought

Samsung has reportedly discovered a breakthrough in producing graphene, the material some say will revolutionise the technology industry, marking a new step forward towards affordable mass production.

What is Graphene? The technology explained

According to a press release posted to Samsung’s official global blog, a partnership with Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) and Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University resulted in a new method for synthesising graphene on the same scale as current silicon semiconductors.

“This is one of the most significant breakthroughs in graphene research in history,” a spokesperson for SAIT said of the discovery. “We expect this discovery to accelerate the commercialization of graphene, which could unlock the next era of consumer electronic technology.”

Essentially a form of graphite that is one atom thick, graphene has one hundred times greater electron mobility than silicon and is ideally suited to creating incredibly thin consumer electronics – if large scale production can be made financially viable. It is more durable than steel, is an excellent conductor of heat and is very flexible, which means it could be used in flexible displays and wearable technology like smartwatches and fitness trackers.

With Samsung already experimenting with curved smartphones like the Galaxy Round and curved OLED TVs, we could be seeing truly flexible gadgets a lot sooner than we thought.