Dev FacTs

In a new  study, published in  Science  May 31, 2013 , Columbia Engineering researchers demonstrate that graphene, even if stitched together from many small crystalline grains, is almost as strong as graphene in its perfect crystalline form. This work resolves a contradiction between theoretical simulations, which predicted that grain boundaries can be strong, and earlier experiments, which indicated that they were much weaker than the perfect lattice. Graphene consists of a single atomic layer of carbon, arranged in a honeycomb lattice. “Our first  Science  paper, in 2008, studied the strength graphene can achieve if it has no defects—its intrinsic strength,” says  James Hone , professor of  mechanical engineering , who led the study with  Jeffrey Kysar , professor of mechanical engineering. “But defect-free, pristine graphene exists only in very small areas. Large-area sheets required for applications must contain many small grains connected at ...