_applied sciences_  
_Editorial_  
Advances in Graphene and Graphene-Related Materials  
**[PERSON] \({}^{1,\star}\)\({}^{\copyright}\)** and [PERSON] \({}^{2,\star}\)\({}^{\copyright}\)  
\({}^{1}\) Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering \"[PERSON]\", Politecnico di Milano, Piazza [PERSON] Da Vinci 32, 20133 Milan, Italy  
\({}^{2}\) Department of Innovative Technologies, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland,  
Via la Santa 1, 6962 Lugano, Switzerland  
\({}^{\star}\) Correspondence: [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (S.L. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (R.B.) In recent years, the investigation into and development of graphene-based materials have been continuing, and have formed the basis of a remarkably large number of the latest publications in the fields of materials science, applied chemistry, and electronics. The interest in graphene-based materials ranges from the synthesis to the modification of them, from the point of view of their practical application in several industrial and research fields. Most applications of GO-based materials and components take advantage of their properties such as capability of rejecting monovalent ions, high salt rejection, high chemical and physical stability, high water permeability, high selectivity, and reduced fouling [1]. The peculiar chemical and physical properties of GO-based materials enable them to form into a variety of shapes. Among others, membrane production takes advantage of the self-assembling behavior of graphene and graphene-related materials, enabling the possibility of producing thin components with controllable selectivity and high permanence [2]. The separation capacity relies on the sieving ability of nanochannels in the membrane, according to molecular size [3]. Accordingly, G- and GO-based membranes have found applications in several areas, such as gas separation [4], organic solvent filtration [5], water purification [6], and desalination [7, 8]. The latter topics are of particular interest, as the global water demand has been estimated to continue at a similar growth rate until 2040, projecting a 20 to 30% increase from existing water consumption rates [9]; based on these data, hybrid graphene-based membrane materials may represent a valuable solution for water purification to meet global freshwater demand. The performance and selectivity of G- and GO-based materials can be further increased by properly modifying the chemical properties of the membrane, either via chemical modification [10] or via the addition of a photochemical functionality, by introducing photo-active materials such as titania [11]. In addition to the removal of pollutants, graphene and its derivatives are materials that are well known to be used for water desalination, which represents another valuable approach to the fulfilment of a resilient and sustainable use of water resources [12]. Graphene-based materials have also found a wide range of applications in the field of energy production and storage. In the first case, GO has been investigated as a possible alternative electrolyte in hydrogen-fed fuel cells (i.e., Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, PEM) at high temperatures and low relative humidity, which would enhance both kinetic aspects and the efficiency of the electrode reaction with respect to what occurs currently with the most widespread electrolyte (i.e., Nafion\({}^{\copyright}\)), operating at 60-80 \({}^{\circ}\)C.  
GO has attracted a lot of interest due to the easy production of both self-standing [13, 14] and hybrid electrolytes, with the latter based on Nafion\({}^{\copyright}\)[15, 16, 17] or more thermally stable polymers based on polylimides [18, 19] or poly(ether sulfones/ketones) [20, 21]. Composites with pure or functionalized GO can show higher mechanical properties as well as enhanced water uptake and proton-conducting behaviors.