Large-scale manufacturing processes that aim to
produce two-dimensional materials (2DMs) for industrial
applications are based on a competition between quality and
productivity. The top-down mechanical cleavage method allows pure
and perfect 2DMs, but they are a weak option for large-scale
manufacture. In a new report in Science Advances, Ji-Yun Moon and a
research team in energy systems, materials science, physics and
nanoarchitectonics in the U.K., Japan and Korea presented a
layer-engineered exfoliation technique to obtain large-scale
graphene of up to a millimeter with selective thickness control.
Using detailed spectroscopy and electron transport measurement
analysis, the team supported the proposed spalling (fragmenting)
mechanism. The layer-engineered exfoliation method will pave the
way to develop an industrial process for graphene and other 2DMs,
for applications in electronics and optoelectronics.
