There are many application areas where graphene and related 2D materials may be disruptive, areas such as flexible electronics, nanocomposites, sensing, filtration membranes and energy storage. Applying metrology to the area of graphene is now paramount to enable the emerging global graphene industry and bridge the gap between academia and industry. Measurement capabilities and expertise for a wide range of scientific areas are required to address this challenge. The combined and complementary approach of varied characterisation methods for structural, chemical and electrical properties, will allow the real-world issues of commercialising graphene and other 2D materials, such as determining the suitability and realistic performance enhancement of graphene-enabled products for the many different types of graphene.

As the UK’s leading National Measurement Institute (NMI), the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is uniquely positioned to enable the commercialisation of graphene through the application of metrology in this area. This measurement research has been used directly to develop international standards within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), within their ‘Nanotechnologies’ Technical Committees, TC229 and TC113 respectively. Here, two international standards currently under development and led by NPL will be described, ‘ISO/TS 80004-13: Nanotechnologies - Vocabulary - Part 13: Graphene and related two-dimensional materials’ and ‘ISO/PWI 21356: Nanotechnologies - Structural characterization of graphene’.

There are many application areas where graphene and related 2D materials may be disruptive, areas such as flexible electronics, nanocomposites, sensing, filtration membranes and energy storage. Applying metrology to the area of graphene is now paramount to enable the emerging global graphene industry and bridge the gap between academia and industry. Measurement capabilities and expertise for a wide range of scientific areas are required to address this challenge. The combined and complementary approach of varied characterisation methods for structural, chemical and electrical properties, will allow the real-world issues of commercialising graphene and other 2D materials, such as determining the suitability and realistic performance enhancement of graphene-enabled products for the many different types of graphene.

As the UK’s leading National Measurement Institute (NMI), the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is uniquely positioned to enable the commercialisation of graphene through the application of metrology in this area. This measurement research has been used directly to develop international standards within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), within their ‘Nanotechnologies’ Technical Committees, TC229 and TC113 respectively. Here, two international standards currently under development and led by NPL will be described, ‘ISO/TS 80004-13: Nanotechnologies - Vocabulary - Part 13: Graphene and related two-dimensional materials’ and ‘ISO/PWI 21356: Nanotechnologies - Structural characterization of graphene’.