Why Graphene Is Emerging as the Next Big Investment in the Materials Sector

Graphene is poised to become the backbone of several next-generation industries...

It's one of the lightest and most flexible materials in existence... yet it's 200 times stronger than steel. And it effortlessly conducts heat and electricity... even better than copper.

First isolated in 2004, graphene is still in its very early stages of development and usage.

Right now, the total market size for graphene is about $1 billion. But that could more than triple in the next few years.

That's why we're bringing it to your attention today. Now is the time for investors to start keeping an eye on graphene... before its use becomes widespread.

Read on for everything you need to know about graphene, why it will be a game changer across a range of industries, and two graphene-focused stocks to watch.

What Is Graphene and Why Does It Matter?

Let's start with what graphene is...

Graphene is made from graphite – yes, the main ingredient of pencil "lead."

If you've ever written anything with a pencil, you might have even accidentally created graphene with your pencil shavings... a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal, or honeycomb, lattice. It's literally one atom thick. That's 1 million times thinner than a human hair. But graphene is also stronger than diamonds or steel. And it's extremely flexible, conductive, and transparent.

Physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov first isolated graphene in 2004 while working at the University of Manchester in England. And they achieved this by using sticky tape to peel off single layers of carbon from graphite. They repeated this exercise until they isolated a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. For their efforts, the pair won the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics.

Right now, the overall market size for graphene is about $1 billion. But the graphene market is growing as more novel uses for the "wonder material" are found.

And the biggest growth is coming from the market for graphene powder and nanoplatelets...

• Graphene nanoplatelets ("GNPs") are typically stacks of 50 or more individual graphene sheets that form thin, flat, platelet-like particles.

• Graphene powder is nanoplatelets that are processed into a powder or granular form. This makes graphene easier to incorporate into other materials.

GNPs are currently used to enhance the stiffness, strength, and toughness of materials like polymers (like 3D-printing filaments, composites (such as polypropylene and epoxy), and coatings (like adhesives and scratch-resistant coatings).

These applications are beginning to generate high demand for graphene.

And consulting firm MarketsandMarkets predicts that by 2030, the graphene market will grow to exceed $3.5 billion. The market for graphene powder and GNPs, specifically, should dominate by revenue and volume through 2028 and likely through 2030.

Graphene is growing into a platform technology – a foundation or base for other technologies and industries – like silicon and lithium before it. That makes graphene a very intriguing consideration for investors.

What Will Be Manufactured With Graphene?

Graphene has many uses. That's why investors should pay close attention to this highly versatile material. Let's look at some of the products that are, and will be, manufactured with graphene and how graphene impacts each product type.

Electronics and Computing

• Flexible and wearable devices: Graphene's flexibility can be used to create rollable screens and displays as well as wearable devices like health-tracking patches and smartwatches. Graphene can also be used as a coating to improve phone and tablet touch screens.

• Transistors: Graphene is used to make the world's smallest transistors for microprocessors within computers. That's significant because the smaller the transistor, the better it performs.

• Memory chips: A research team in China recently developed the world's fastest flash memory device using graphene. These devices could potentially replace the current memory used in AI chips, helping reduce space and power consumption.

• Quantum computing: A new, advanced type of computing that uses quantum-mechanics principles, quantum computing, solves problems that are too complicated for standard computers. Graphene's unique electronic properties have proved ideal for a variety of quantum-computing components.

Energy Storage and Generation

• Batteries: Graphene batteries offer faster charging, higher energy density, and a longer lifespan than current rechargeable batteries.

• Supercapacitors: Using graphene in supercapacitors improves power density and charging speeds. Supercapacitors are key to stabilizing power in electrical grids, powering regenerative braking in electric vehicles ("EVs"), and serving as backup power for electronic items.

• Solar and fuel cells: Graphene is used in solar cells to improve energy-conversion efficiency. And it serves as an electrocatalyst in fuel cells because of its high surface area and conductivity.

Health and Biomedical

• Drug delivery: Graphene can carry medicine within the body thanks to its immense surface area. Even more impressive... scientists can tailor the surface of graphene by attaching unique materials that help it locate and stick to specific cells. This allows the medicine to go precisely where it's needed. Scientists can even add materials that react to certain triggers (such as the acidic environments inside tumors). And that enables the graphene to release the drug only where and when necessary.

• Smart implants: Graphene helps smart medical implants send and receive signals more effectively while remaining strong and flexible. That makes graphene ideal for coating implants used in the brain and bones.

• Flexible hearing aids: Graphene's flexibility, strength, and sensitivity help create lightweight, durable hearing aid devices with better sound quality and power efficiency than traditional hearing aid speakers.

Water Filtration and Purification

• Analysis shows that graphene's specialized membranes and composites can physically block contaminants. Tiny pores added to graphene sheets help trap particles, viruses, bacteria, dissolved salts, and chemicals while letting clean water pass through.

Composites, Coatings, and Construction

• Graphene is used in composites to enhance material properties like strength, durability, and electrical and thermal conductivity. Adding even small amounts of graphene to materials allows manufacturers to create stronger, lighter, and better-performing products – everything from aircraft wings and car panels to sporting goods and protective coatings.

No one sees graphene. And hardly anyone knows it's embedded in products and technologies from billion- and trillion-dollar industries. But it is... and it will continue to be. Like semiconductors are doing today, graphene has the potential to impact the entire market in the future. And it should be on investors' radars... even if it's still a bit too soon to invest in it.

Why the Graphene Market Is Still Young

The future of graphene is exciting, and its potential is fascinating. But investors should temper their excitement, at least in the short term.

While it's not a brand-new material, the market for graphene is still in its very early stages. Right now, the graphene market's growth is mainly driven by research and development (R&D), as well as applications in products we mentioned earlier. Companies are still testing graphene's potential before adopting it on a larger scale.

And it's that larger scale that remains a major challenge. Graphene costs a lot to produce. The current range is around $50 per kilogram for graphene powder and up to $10,000 per kilogram for graphene film.

A couple examples for context... A single battery module might contain $20 worth of graphene. But a company ordering these battery modules (EV, drone, e-bike, or home energy-system manufacturers, for example) might place an order for 10,000. That's $200,000 just for one material.

For wearable devices, solar panels, or products with flexible touch screens, an electronics company may need enough graphene film for 5,000 devices. At $10,000 per kilogram, just a few milligrams of graphene film might cost more than the rest of the display.

Until these costs come down, larger-scale production will remain a hurdle. But it's not just money holding up widespread graphene adoption. Right now, there is little consistency or standardization involved in graphene production. Different production methods result in graphene of varying quality. And until the product becomes more uniform, companies will hesitate to place large orders for graphene products.

The problem is, it's difficult to create uniformity when around 150,000 graphene-related patents have been filed – and that number is constantly growing. This patent glut creates substantial intellectual-property issues that lead to legal challenges and licensing problems. All that does is slow down innovation and product development.

Plenty of questions still surround graphene from a regulatory perspective as well. Currently, there are no global rules or regulations for graphene. And that raises questions. Are there health impacts? Does graphene production harm the environment?

Those questions need answers before large-scale production is possible. That means standards must be agreed upon and implemented. We're just not there yet. And we may not get there until later this decade or into the 2030s.

That's why we're bringing attention to graphene now. Because it's absolutely worth an early watch for investors.

Graphene Stocks to Watch Now

This brings us to two graphene pure-play stocks you should monitor now for potential investment later.

These two companies are both in their early stages, unprofitable, and quite volatile. We do not recommend buying these stocks today. But they are potentially high-risk/high-reward stocks to add to your watch list.

NanoXplore (GRA.TO)

This Canadian pure-play graphene company, founded in 2011 and headquartered in Montreal, manufactures and supplies graphene powder for use in transportation and industrial markets. Its graphene-based solutions include GrapheneBlack powder, graphene-enhanced masterbatch pellets, and silicon-graphene-enhanced lithium-ion batteries for EVs and grid storage.

NanoXplore is the largest high-volume graphene powder producer for plastics and EV batteries in the world. But it's still not making money. The company's first-quarter financial results for fiscal year ("FY") 2026 reported a 30% decrease in total revenues and a loss of CA$1.4 million for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization ("EBITDA"). NanoXplore lost a total of CA$3.8 million in its first quarter and held CA$20.1 million in total liquidity.

One reason for the lackluster performance is the capital expenditures ("capex") NanoXplore is putting toward expansion. The company invested around CA$3 million to CA$5 million per quarter over the past few quarters to grow manufacturing capacity and its battery facilities. It's also putting capex toward dry-process graphene, which would theoretically open the door to new market opportunities for NanoXplore.

Despite these challenges, NanoXplore is bullish on its future growth. In its first-quarter earnings call, the company pointed to its healthy long-term revenue growth rates, improving gross margins, and strategic collaborations with Chevron Phillips Chemical and Club Car, as well as the battery market.

Graphene Manufacturing Group (GMG.V)

Graphene Manufacturing Group ("GMG"), based in Brisbane, Australia, is another graphene pure play. Through its product range, the clean-technology company strives to deliver products that save and store energy. A few of its flagship products include:

• Thermal-XR HVAC coating system, which improves the conductivity of corroded heat exchange surfaces

• G Lubricant, a concentrate of GMG graphene and lubricating oil designed to save energy and emissions while preventing engine wear

• Supa G, a graphene slurry that enhances the performance of lithium-ion batteries

GMG is also working on developing and commercializing graphene aluminum-ion batteries. These batteries would offer better energy density and less risk of overheating and performance degradation than lithium-ion batteries.

Right now, GMG's financials are nothing to write home about. For FY 2025, GMG brought in just around AU$240,000 in total revenue. That's down 19.4% year over year ("YOY"). The company also sustained more than AU$8.5 million in net losses. That's more than the AU$7.4 million GMG lost in FY 2024. Like NanoXplore, however, much of these losses can be chalked up to operating expenses and R&D.

GMG's operating expenses did decrease from nearly AU$13 million in FY 2024 to just AU$10.7 million. The company's cash position at the end of June 2025 totaled AU$7.7 million, an increase from FY 2024.

It bears repeating... Graphene is in its very early stages. And that shows in GMG's overall financial performance. The company is generating little revenue right now. But it's spending money to operate and scale production. Unfortunately, that never looks good on a balance sheet.

That said, analysts like GMG. Its high growth potential in an emerging market is appealing to investors, as is the company's mission to commercialize its products and technology for energy-saving uses.

Graphene Investment Outlook: What Investors Need to Know

Let's break down what investors should know today about potentially investing in graphene.

• The upside is huge. Graphene could be what lithium-ion batteries were in the 2010s, or what semiconductors were in the 1980s. It's a potentially world-changing innovation. And it could impact a ton of industries – from electronics and energy storage to automotive, aerospace, and medicine. Graphene is looking at a massive total addressable market once production costs decrease enough.

We're talking about growth from around $1.2 billion today to more than $3.5 billion by 2030. Some projections see the market reaching $7.8 billion by 2033 and nearly $10 billion by 2034.

• There are still significant challenges. As we covered earlier, the ability to scale production is still a major roadblock. Graphene-focused manufacturers face high production costs, for one. Plus, producing graphene of consistent quality on a large scale is a challenge. And given the current lack of regulatory standards, this challenge will likely persist until some form of universal standardization is implemented.

While graphene's potential is nearly limitless, the current market doesn't reflect those possibilities. Instead, it's primarily driven by R&D as well as niche additive products and applications.

• Investors have some risks to consider. Investing in graphene may pay off in a big way. But the timeline for mass adoption is still unclear. Most projections put commercialization of graphene products at least five to 10 years out. If you're willing to wait and deal with near-term volatility and risk in the meantime, your patience could be rewarded.

But it's important to remember that many pure-play businesses, like graphene, are microcap stocks. That means their market caps may not exceed $300 million for the foreseeable future. There's also very little liquidity in these stocks. So, buying and selling will likely have a huge impact on the stock price. And, again, graphene stocks are very high risk and speculative. The products are unproven on a large scale. They generally cater to niche businesses (for now). And until that changes, graphene companies won't make much (if any) money.

This is actually why it makes sense to watch graphene companies and their stocks now, while they're still experiencing growing pains, rather than chasing them after they (potentially) explode.

The Bottom Line: Graphene's Long-Term Investment Potential

Scientists don't casually toss around labels like "wonder material" unless they're earned. Graphene warrants that claim. And it truly does have the potential to be one of those once-in-a-generation innovations.

But it won't happen tomorrow... not even next year. It may take five or seven years – or even longer – for graphene to reach the masses and achieve its unlimited potential. What's important to note is that the groundwork is being laid right now. And that makes it the perfect time to pay attention to graphene.

Add it to your watch list, keep an eye on the market, and put yourself in an advantageous position – ahead of the crowd – once it's time to buy.

Regards,

David Engle

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