grafenin

Grafenin is a hypothetical two-dimensional carbon allotrope described in speculative literature and some early-worldbuilding discussions as a graphene-like sheet with a porous, ordered lattice. It has not been demonstrated in laboratory experiments.

Compared with graphene, grafenin is envisioned as a single-atom-thick sheet with a regular network that incorporates pores or modified rings, producing higher surface area and a tunable electronic structure. Some proposals describe preserved hexagonal motifs with intentional defects or heteroatom sites enabling band-gap control.

Predicted properties include exceptional tensile strength and stiffness, low density, and high electronic conductivity, along with the possibility of a finite band gap when functionalized, doped, or strained. Thermal conductivity is also expected to be high in many models.

Synthesis remains speculative; no experimental realization is reported. Proposed routes include bottom-up assembly from molecular precursors on templated substrates, template-assisted chemical vapor deposition, or self-assembly on nanoporous templates. Challenges include stability of the porous structure and scalable production.

In theory, grafenin could enable applications in energy storage (high-surface-area electrodes), catalysis, chemical sensing, and nanoelectronic devices that require a tunable band gap and high carrier mobility.

See also: graphene, graphenylene, two-dimensional materials, carbon allotropes, nanomaterials.