Fraunhofer ISI contributes to the European Graphene Flagship by coordinating and supporting the development of the Technology and Innovation Roadmap (TIR) within the framework of GrapheneEU. Building on contributions from the participating projects, the roadmap provides a strategic framework for linking technological developments with market needs and identifying promising innovation pathways towards industrial application.
Graphene and related 2D materials are widely regarded as key enabling technologies with the potential to transform numerous industries, including electronics and photonics, energy systems, biomedical applications, and advanced materials. Their unique combination of properties – such as exceptional electrical and thermal conductivity, mechanical strength, flexibility, and optical transparency – opens up new possibilities for next-generation devices and products.
To fully realise this potential, the European Commission launched the Graphene Flagship as one of its largest and most ambitious research initiatives. Building on earlier phases under FP7 and Horizon 2020, current activities under Horizon Europe aim to consolidate Europe’s technological leadership and strengthen its strategic autonomy in graphene and 2D materials. Since the FP7 phase and throughout Horizon 2020, Fraunhofer ISI has played a key role in developing and continuously updating the Graphene Flagship Technology and Innovation Roadmap (TIR), which provides a strategic framework for assessing technological developments, application opportunities and pathways towards industrialisation.
Since 2023 GrapheneEU acts as the central Coordination and Support Action within the European Graphene Flagship iniative, ensuring coherence across the various Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs). It provides coordination, governance and support functions that enable participating projects to align their activities, share best practices and exploit synergies, thereby bridging the gap between scientific excellence and industrial application.
The Technology and Innovation Roadmap aims to guide the development and industrialisation of graphene and 2D materials by identifying and analysing promising value chains and innovation pathways. A central objective is to align technological capabilities with industrial demand, thereby enabling the emergence of viable markets and strengthening Europe’s innovation ecosystem.
To achieve this, the roadmap adopts a value-chain perspective that spans the entire innovation process, from material production and processing to component development, system integration and end-use applications. Particular emphasis is placed on identifying critical interfaces between stakeholders, including material suppliers, component manufacturers, system integrators and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).
Beyond technological aspects, the roadmap also integrates economic, regulatory and societal dimensions. This holistic perspective helps organisations to better understand future developments, align their resources with strategic goals and define actionable pathways towards successful innovation and market uptake.
Fraunhofer ISI applies a structured and iterative roadmapping approach in close collaboration with the RIA and IA projects within GrapheneEU. The activities are coordinated as part of Work Package 4 and include the development of methodological frameworks, the facilitation of roadmap processes and the integration of project-level results into a coherent overall perspective.
A key element of this work is the support of individual projects in establishing and implementing their own roadmap processes. This includes providing tailored methodologies, structured guidance and practical support to ensure that roadmapping activities are aligned with both project-specific objectives and the broader goals of the Graphene Flagship. At the same time, the results generated within the projects are continuously aggregated and synthesised to form an overarching roadmap at the European level.
In parallel, Fraunhofer ISI conducts continuous monitoring of global developments in graphene and 2D materials. Monitoring is understood as the systematic tracking and analysis of progress against defined indicators and strategic objectives. This includes the evaluation of technological advances, market developments and patent activity, as well as the analysis of scientific output. For example, recent analyses of global publication trends highlight both the growing volume of graphene research and an increasing shift towards application-oriented work, particularly in fields such as electronics, photonics and energy storage. These insights provide a robust evidence base for the roadmap and support strategic decision-making within the initiative.
More generally, roadmapping plays a crucial role in guiding innovation processes. It enables organisations to align strategic objectives with available resources, anticipate future trends and challenges, engage relevant stakeholders and manage uncertainties. To operationalise this approach, Fraunhofer ISI has developed and applied specific methodologies such as the Innovation Interface Investigation (3I) framework. This framework supports the systematic analysis of future value chains by identifying key actors, interfaces and development steps along the path from material innovation to end-use applications. Practical implementations of this approach, for example in the context of graphene-enhanced lithium-ion battery electrodes, illustrate how technological options, stakeholder perspectives and market requirements can be brought together in a structured and actionable way.
The Technology and Innovation Roadmap builds on a long-standing roadmapping process within the Graphene Flagship. Since the start of GrapheneEU in 2023, Fraunhofer ISI has further advanced this approach by strengthening the integration of market perspectives, value-chain analyses and cross-project coordination.
In 2025, the roadmap activities continued to evolve through regular exchanges within the Graphene Roadmap Working Group. These meetings provided important platforms for methodological refinement, alignment across projects and the exchange of progress. Over time, a strong collaborative dynamic has emerged, with increasing alignment of roadmap objectives and growing engagement across the participating projects.
Close cooperation with the RIA and IA projects has led to significant progress in the development of project-level roadmaps. Several best practices have become evident, including the adoption of a value-chain perspective, engaging end-users early to ensure market relevance, maintaining a clear focus on application and scalability, and fostering collaboration across projects to leverage synergies.
The results of these activities are also reflected in a growing body of publications. In particular, the Graphene Roadmap Briefs provide targeted insights into key aspects of graphene innovation. The first roadmap brief introduced the 3I framework and explored emerging value chains for graphene-based technologies. The second brief focused on industrial challenges such as production, quality and scalability, highlighting structural developments within the graphene industry. The third brief provided a quantitative perspective on global market developments, analysing market expectations, key actors and major application areas such as composites, batteries and electronics. The fourth Roadmap Brief explores the innovation potential of graphene in lithium-ion batteries, with a particular focus on silicon-based anodes. Another publication addressed the commercialization of graphene electronics, placing technological developments in a broader innovation context and highlighting industrialization challenges, market development and technology transfer.
At the same time, the monitoring of global developments highlights the strong international dynamics in the field. Research activities in regions such as China have increased significantly, both in terms of quantity and quality, while Europe continues to play a leading role alongside other major innovation regions. The range of potential applications has expanded considerably, and graphene is increasingly gaining relevance for industrial and commercial use.
Looking ahead, the roadmap activities within GrapheneEU will focus on integrating the outcomes of the individual projects into a coherent European roadmap. This process will bring together the diverse expertise, application areas and innovation pathways represented across the initiative. A flexible roadmap framework has been established to accommodate the diversity of project scopes, technological maturity levels and development timelines, while ensuring a consistent and comprehensive overall structure.
In parallel, new formats are being explored to enhance the accessibility and visibility of the roadmap results. In particular, the development of an interactive roadmap visualisation is planned, which will be made available via a dedicated public website. This approach aims to improve usability, facilitate knowledge transfer and provide more intuitive access to complex innovation pathways.
10/2023–03/2027
The project is being carried out as part of the Graphene Flagship Initiative (Coordination and Support Action).
Previous project: Further information is available at Graphene Roadmap – Fraunhofer ISI
Graphene Flagship Initiative: https://graphene-flagship.eu/
Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI