Graphene

The 2010 Nobel prize for physics was awarded Tuesday to two professors from the University of Manchester in England for "groundbreaking" experiments with the two-dimensional material graphene.

The professors are Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, both originally from Russia.

"I didn't expect the Nobel prize this year because I thought this year would be the year of astrophysics," Geim told reporters by phone after the win.

Graphene is one of a class of two-dimensional materials discovered by Geim's research group at the university, according to Graphene Industries, which says it has worked closely with Geim. It consists of a hexagonal array of carbon atoms, just like those found in bulk graphite, but is "fundamentally different" from the familiar three-dimensional material, in part because it is flexible. Graphene