THE TWO University of Manchester boffins behind the isolation of graphene, the world’s new ‘miracle material’, have been awarded the Honorary Freedom of the City of Manchester at a Town Hall ceremony - the highest honour the city can bestow.
“I’m thrilled to have been awarded the Freedom of the City. Manchester was home for the largest proportion of my most exciting experiments, and the local support we get is tremendous.”
Only five other individuals or groups have received the Freedom of the City award (which, unfortunately, is only honorary, and doesn't mean you can graze your cattle in Sackville Gardens or shoot a Welshman with a crossbow should he enter the Town Hall) in over 25 years, these are Sir Bobby Charlton, Tony Wilson, the GB Cycling Team, Sir Alex Ferguson and the 207 Field Hospital (Volunteers) for their service in Afghanistan.
Russian-born Sir Andre Geim and Sir Kostya Novoselov, who isolated the material for the first time at the University of Manchester in 2004, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 and were subsequently knighted in 2012 for their ‘Services to Science’.
Graphene is the thinnest, strongest, most flexible and conductive material in the world. A carbon sheet, one-atom thick and 200 times stronger than steel (but six times lighter), the material is set to revolutionise, well, just about everything: TVs as thin as wallpaper, terabit downloads in under a second, drinkable seawater, cancer treatment, phone chare-ups in five seconds, radioactive waste clean-up and Bill Gates new super-condom.
Building on the work of the pair, Manchester shall become the world’s leading graphene research and technology hub with the arrival of a new £61m 7600 sq m graphene facility, the National Graphene Institute. Sir Andre said: “It is a great honour to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Manchester. Manchester has been my home now for almost 14 years and is very close to my heart."
Sir Kostya said: “I’m thrilled to have been awarded the Freedom of the City. Manchester was home for the largest proportion of my most exciting experiments, and the local support we get is tremendous.”
The Lord Mayor of Manchester Councillor Naeem ul Hassan JP said: “It was a privilege to be able to present the freedom of the city to Sir Andre and Sir Kostya .
“The significance of their work on graphene is truly breath-taking and we are yet to truly grasp the magnitude of its real-life applications.”
“Manchester is a city born of innovation so it is only right we recognise the achievements of Sir Andre and Sir Kostya - who have joined the pantheon of scientific giants connected to our forward-looking city.”
More information on the study of graphene at the University of Manchester here.
