The addition of hydrogen to graphene causes deformation of the original flat monoatomic graphite layer, because all carbon atoms in the resulting lattice change their hybridisation from the flat sp2 to the tetrahedral sp3. This modification transforms the conducting graphene into the dielectric graphane. The theoretical possibility of such a structure has been proven by J. O. Sofo [1,2]; the first graphane samples were experimentally obtained by teams from Chernogolovka and Manchester in 2009 [3,4].

As graphene converts into fully hydrogenated graphane via intermediate partially hydrogenated structures, the electronic properties of the material undergo gradual changes. It is therefore expected that controlled incomplete hydrogenation of graphene may provide materials with the desired properties. Similarly, hydrogenation of predefined domains of a graphene sheet to graphane could be the way to "cut out" graphene fragments of desired shape, although such controlled hydrogenation would be a non-trivial task of own importance.