Geim, Andre Konstantin (1958-…), a Russian-born physicist, won a share of the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics for discovering properties of an extremely thin form of carbon called graphene. He shared the prize with his fellow researcher Konstantin Novoselov.
Graphene is both the thinnest and the strongest material yet discovered. It consists of a sheet of carbon atoms tightly connected in a honeycomb pattern. The sheet is only one atom thick. In contrast, a human hair is hundreds of thousands of carbon atoms thick. In theory, a hammock made of a single layer of graphene could hold up a small cat without breaking. Graphene’s extreme thinness gives it strange and useful properties. For example, graphene is almost entirely transparent. Graphene also conducts heat and electric current well. As a result, it could be used to make tinier, faster electronic devices and more efficient solar panels. Graphene is similar in structure to graphite, the form of carbon in pencil lead. In fact, Geim and Novoselov isolated samples of graphene by peeling off thin layers of graphite with ordinary sticky tape.
Geim was born on October 21, 1958, in Sochi, Russia. In 1987, he earned his doctorate from the Institute of Solid State Physics, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2001, he joined the faculty of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.
See also Graphite ; Novoselov, Konstantin .
