Wonder materials
Arrange atoms differently and the same element behaves like a new material: carbon becomes graphene, a sheet one atom thick, or nanotubes stronger than steel. The hard part is making them cheaply and in quantity, and that is where most of the progress is.
9 technologies tracked here, by how far each has got.
From lab to your life
Where each one stands
Every technology sits on the step its dated, sourced milestones support, never where its makers hope it will be. Open one to see why it's there.
- 5Everyday lifeIt is probably already in your life.
- 4Approved or on saleYou can get it now, though it may not be common yet.
- GrapheneMaterialGraphene is a sheet of carbon one atom thick, first pulled from pencil graphite with ordinary sticky tape.Ford said graphene would go into production by the end of 2018 in more than ten under-hood parts of the F-150 and Mustang. Less than half…
- Silica aerogelsInsulating materialAerogels are among the lightest solids ever made.Aspen Aerogels sold $168.9 million of its PyroThin battery heat barriers in 2025, down from $306.8 million in 2024, mostly to GM.
- 3Real-world testingCould reach you in a few years if the tests go well.
- 2Working prototypeStill years away; many prototypes stall here.
- Carbon nanotube transistorsTransistor materialCarbon nanotubes are sheets of carbon atoms rolled into tubes.MIT researchers reported in Nature a 16-bit microprocessor built from carbon nanotube transistors.
- Vantablack nanotube coatingCoatingVantablack is a coating made of carbon nanotubes that absorbs about 99.96% of the light that hits it.Surrey NanoSystems announced Vantablack, absorbing 99.96% of light, which it said was the highest ever recorded.
- 1Lab discoveryUsually 10 years or more from products, and most never get there.
- Atom-thin 2D semiconductor chipsTransistor materialSome materials can be made just a few atoms thick, like sheets of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2).A Fudan University team reported WUJI in Nature: a 32-bit processor built from 5,900 transistors made of atom-thin MoS2, far beyond the…
- DNA origamiBuilding with DNADNA origami folds a long strand of DNA into chosen shapes and patterns a few nanometers in size, held in place by short DNA strands, like a pegboard on which other molecules can be placed exactly.Paul Rothemund of Caltech published his method for folding DNA into shapes and patterns a few nanometers in size, in Nature.
- MXenesMaterialMXenes (said "maxenes") are a family of materials a few atoms thick, made of a metal such as titanium bonded to carbon or nitrogen.Researchers in Drexel University's materials science department discovered MXenes.
On the record
The latest steps
The most recent dated events for everything in this topic, newest first, each with its source.
- Widely usedCompany-reported
Nanotube additives
Batteries containing OCSiAl's nanotubes were powering about a million electric vehicles, and Volkswagen's battery company PowerCo picked OCSiAl as a supplier for its Unified Cell.
electrive, 26 June 2026 - On saleCompany-reported
Aerogels
Aspen Aerogels sold $168.9 million of its PyroThin battery heat barriers in 2025, down from $306.8 million in 2024, mostly to GM.
Aspen Aerogels annual report (10-K), 2025 - On the record
MOF carbon capture
Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing metal-organic frameworks, citing uses that include capturing carbon dioxide.
Nobel Prize press release, 8 Oct 2025 - Published research
2D chips
A Fudan University team reported WUJI in Nature: a 32-bit processor built from 5,900 transistors made of atom-thin MoS2, far beyond the previous record of 115.
Shanghai government news, 3 Apr 2025 - ProductionCompany-reported
MOF carbon capture
BASF said it was the first company to make a MOF at a scale of several hundred tons a year, for Svante's carbon capture filters.
The Chemical Engineer, 3 Nov 2023 - Published research
Nanotube chips
MIT researchers reported in Nature a 16-bit microprocessor built from carbon nanotube transistors.
Smithsonian Magazine, Aug 2019 - Pilot production
Nanotube chips
MIT and SkyWater Technology Foundry showed the first wafer of 3D chips combining carbon nanotube transistors and memory made in a commercial US foundry, under a DARPA program.
IEEE Spectrum, 19 July 2019 - Field trial
MOF carbon capture
Svante installed a demonstration plant capturing 1 tonne of CO2 a day at Lafarge's cement plant in Richmond, British Columbia, using its MOF material.
World Cement, May 2023
Who makes it
The companies behind it
Who is building what we track in this topic. Where a company's own filings say how much of its business is nano, we show it.
- Private companyOCSiAl
Makes single-wall carbon nanotubes; its TUBALL additive is in batteries powering about a million electric cars.
We track:Nanotube additives
- ASPNNYSEAspen AerogelsPure play
Makes aerogel insulation, including thin heat barriers for electric car batteries supplied to GM, Toyota and ACC.
We track:Aerogels