Researchers from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute developed a new graphene based coating that can be used to make rough surfaces more water resistant. Those new graphene "drapes" are less than a nanometer thick and are optically transparent and chemically inert. In fact the drape is simply a single graphene layer.
The researchers say this new coating can be used to make better lab-on-chip devices, self cleaning surfaces and other applications that need the motion of liquid drops on surfaces.
Currently the researchers produced square nano graphene drapes that are several inches in length. To create the drapes, they grew graphene on a coper substrate and then coated it with a polymer film. Acid was used to etch away the copper. After the polymer+graphene was transferred to a surface, the polymer was washed away with acetone - and so the single graphene sheet remained.