Exploring two decades of graphene: The jack of all trades

In the last two decades, graphene and its derivative structures have proved effective in various applications, having a significant impact on society. In all kinds of research field whether it is the energy, environmental, biomedical or any interdisciplinary field, graphene have proved effective. The modifiable physical and chemical properties of its derivative products have made way for advanced research. Here in this review, we have discussed the advent of graphene-based materials in research over the past 20 years. Research areas related to the fields of environmental, energy and electronic, and biomedical have been discussed. For environmental research pollution, purification, and analyte sensing aspects were considered. In energy research, green energy generation and energy storage materials based on graphene were discussed. Finally, in the biomedical sections, various biological applications of graphene were discussed. We have also tried to highlight the engineering aspect and synthesis pathways that led to the rise of the graphene empire in every domain of materials science and nanoscience research. The overall details in this review may help the reader, in general, to understand why graphene is designated as the jack of all trades in research.