Ever since the discovery of the two-dimensional form of graphite (called graphene) almost twenty years ago, interest in 2D materials and their special physical properties has skyrocketed. Famously, graphene was produced by exfoliating bulk graphite using sticky tape. Although it was good enough for a Nobel Prize, this method has its drawbacks.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Artistic depiction of KISS exfoliation and photoemission experiment. 2D material is separated from the parent crystal due to stronger interaction with the substrate. UV light is used to photo-emit electrons allowing studies of the electronic structure by direct imaging of the electronic bands, as seen in the background. Credit: Antonija Grubišić-Čabo and Dina Maniar, University of Groningen An international team of surface scientists has now developed a simple method to produce large and very clean 2D samples from a range of materials using three different substrates. Their method, kinetic in situ single-layer synthesis (KISS) is described in the journal Advanced Science on June 1. Two-dimensional materials have physical properties that are not shared by bulk material. The confinement of charge carriers is one reason for this. There are two ways to produce these 2D materials: exfoliating a larger crystal or growing a 2D layer. Exfoliation means peeling off layers from a larger crystal until you are left with just one layer. "This process is time-consuming and requires specific skills and equipment," says Antonija Grubišić-Čabo, a surface scientist at the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) and first author of the Advanced Science paper. "Furthermore, it often results in very small flakes, while the adhesive tape that is used can leave polymers on their…