title: Observational geology of graphene, at the nanoscale.
abstract: As the available length ranges expand, graphene begins to show its anticipated polycrystallinity. Its texture, revealed with modern comprehensive microscopy in recent work by Kim et al. , includes coherent domains/grains oriented randomly yet with an intriguing degree of regularity. The domains are stitched together by pentagons and heptagons aligned into the grain boundaries. The challenge is now to deduce the mechanisms of formation based on observations and then to find ways to control the morphology toward useful properties and applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, and the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States. biy@rice.edu
authors.forename: Boris I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Yakobson
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods*; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D006108:Graphite