Researchers from Cornell are studying Graphene grain boundaries. The researchers say that graphene doesn't grow in perfect sheets - it rather develops in pieces that resemble patchwork quilts. The meeting point of those patches is called grain boundaries, and the researchers are studying those boundaries.

The researchers grew Graphene on copper and then conceived a novel way to peel them off as free-standing, atom-thick films. They imaged the graphene (using diffraction imaging electron microscopy) and used a color to represent the angle that electrons bounced off at. Using different colors based on the electron bounce they created an easy way to image graphene grain boundaries. This method could also be applied to other 2D materials - and help explain the way that Graphene was stitched together at the boundaries.