Nokia is set to further research graphene, the recently discovered world’s most durable, thinnest and lightest material ever, and find revolutionary ways to boost the technologies and improve life across the globe. The corporation is one of the members of the Graphene Flagship Consortium, which includes 74 partners from the industrial and academic sectors—the group was chosen by the European Union for the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) program, which will be allocated 1 billion euros to be spent on researches over the next 10 years.

The material, which is just one atom thick, has a 2D structure and possesses superpower characteristics—for instance, it has a breaking strength 300 times greater than steel and it is also more durable than diamond. Nokia, which started to work with graphene in 2006 (it was discovered in Britain in 2004), will be participating in researches within the consumer electronics sector to improve the industry.

According to experts, graphene can be a start of a new round of industrial revolution, but this doesn’t mean that the new material will be used as it is—more likely, graphene will be added to enhance the excising materials.

“Globalization has taken a lot of manufacturing out of the EU, whereas many countries still rely on industrial manufacturing. There is a huge opportunity to bring manufacturing back here, while using new materials and at the same time keeping manufacturing industries competitive,” commented Tapani Ryhänen, Head of the Sensor and Material Technologies Laboratory at Nokia. “Making products out of graphene will definitely happen across lots of different industries. By introducing people from different markets together within the EU-based consortium, we can begin to make real-world applications that benefit us all.”