Graphene is widely regarded as the electronics material of the future, but in an article published over the weekend in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, a group from EPFL’s Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures (LANES) describes how the abundant mineral molybdenite (MoS2) is a very effective semiconductor with advantages over both graphene and silicon. The discovery could allow for transistors that are smaller and orders of magnitude more efficient.

Molybdenite is already used as an additive to lubricants and in some steel alloys, but it previously had not been thoroughly examined for electronic properties. Compared with silicon, the current standard material used in electronics and chip technology, and graphene, molybdenite enjoys some serious selling points.