Researchers from the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan are studying graphene flakes, and creating conductive materials. Producing these flakes is much more simple than fabricating actual graphene sheets (they are doing it by chemically treating graphite). The researchers have been using these flakes to make regular paper conductive (simply by painting a solution with graphene flakes on it).
One of the first application the researchers are working on is strain sensors that can replace current sensors in oil and gas pipe lines, bridges, engines and airplanes to check the conditions of these items. They believe this could be one of the first real-world graphene applications.
Because making these flakes is easy - it's also cheap, and the researchers say that producing it in mass could be done for as low as $1 per kilogram.
