Researchers visualize defect dynamics by assembling colloidal graphene lattices
Researchers from the University of Amsterdam, New York University and Spain's CSIC have developed a way to build micrometer-size models of atomic graphene using 'patchy particles’ - particles which are large enough to be easily visible in a microscope but small enough to reproduce many of the properties of actual atoms, can interact with the same coordination as the atoms in graphene, and form the same structures.
Using these patchy particles, the team built a model system and used it to obtain insight into the defects in 2D materials, including their formation and evolution over time.