--- title: Graphene Is the 'Mircale Material' That Will Change Everything description: It's called graphene — and you've probably used it before canonical: https://time.com/3964302/miracle-material-graphene-graphite/ author: Ainissa Ramirez article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-20T14:24:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-30T11:49:42.045Z article:section: Science og:title: This is the 'Miracle Material' That Will Change Everything og:description: It's called graphene - and you've probably used it before og:url: https://time.com/3964302/miracle-material-graphene-graphite/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d1d3f0a87e2e3e2/69885b8ecd684803c90a0dfb/gettyimages-136649520.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Progression From Graphite To Graphene og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This is the 'Miracle Material' That Will Change Everything twitter:description: It's called graphene - and you've probably used it before twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d1d3f0a87e2e3e2/69885b8ecd684803c90a0dfb/gettyimages-136649520.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is the 'Miracle Material' That Will Change Everything by [Ainissa Ramirez](https://time.com/author/ainissa-ramirez/) and [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) Jul 20, 2015 2:24 PM UTC  BILLERICA, MA - JANUARY 4: At Cabot Corporation, Senior Researcher Matt Hesketh examines the progression of graphene in three vials. The vial on the left is graphite, the middle one is graphite expanded, and the one on the right is graphene. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) BILLERICA, MA - JANUARY 4: At Cabot Corporation, Senior Researcher Matt Hesketh examines the progression of graphene in three vials. The vial on the left is graphite, the middle one is graphite expanded, and the one on the right is graphene. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)Boston Globe—Boston Globe via Getty Images by [Ainissa Ramirez](https://time.com/author/ainissa-ramirez/) and [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) Jul 20, 2015 2:24 PM UTC The material that’s at end of your pencil could rewrite the way our technology works. That material is graphene and it makes up _graphite_, which you’ll find at the top of your pencil. It has the potential to make technology stronger, better, and faster. Watch materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez explains how graphene could change everything in the video above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3964302/miracle-material-graphene-graphite/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3964302/miracle-material-graphene-graphite/"},"headline":"This Is the 'Miracle Material' That Will Change Everything","datePublished":"2015-07-20T14:24:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T11:49:42.045Z","description":"It's called graphene, and it's found in your No. 2 pencil","url":"https://time.com/3964302/miracle-material-graphene-graphite/","keywords":["Science topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d1d3f0a87e2e3e2/69885b8ecd684803c90a0dfb/gettyimages-136649520.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ainissa Ramirez","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ainissa-ramirez/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d1d3f0a87e2e3e2/69885b8ecd684803c90a0dfb/gettyimages-136649520.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Progression From Graphite To Graphene","caption":"The Progression From Graphite To Graphene","creditText":"Boston Globe—Boston Globe via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3964302/miracle-material-graphene-graphite/","name":"This Is the 'Miracle Material' That Will Change Everything"}}]}] ```