The composite material is expected to revolutionise items such as bullet-proof vests and has the potential to produce artificial muscle fibres.

Researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES), based at the UOW's Innovation Campus, have used graphene, which is comprised of carbon atoms, to develop the material.

ACES senior researcher Professor Geoff Spinks said graphene was the latest discovery in the nanotechnology world of carbon and had proved an amazing building block for advanced materials.

"We have shown that graphene can work just as well as the more common toughening agent, carbon nanotubes, in polymer composites," Prof Spinks said.

"Graphene is also a much cheaper material and can be produced easily in large quantities."

Once the fibres were produced at UOW, they were spun by collaborators at South Korea's Centre for Bio-Artificial Muscle at Hanyang University.

The finished product had proved to be tougher than spider silk and 10 times stronger than Kevlar, a synthetic fibre used in bulletproof vests.

Prof Spinks said there was also future potential to develop the fibres into artificial muscle fibres which had the ability to contract.

"We also think that the exceptional toughness would be useful for other composite materials."

ARC executive research director Professor Gordon Wallace said the next step was to spin quantities of fibre large enough to develop into structures.

"To really test that application, we need to be able to make the structures," he said.

Developing partnerships with people who had the skills and expertise to take the process further was another aim.