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Brodie was first to notice this layered structure. It is composed of carbon atoms that are covalently bonded to 3 other carbons atoms. This forms a hexagonal shape that is a flat sheet. -
Structure of graphite determined by Kohlschutter & Haeni
uses a technique called powder diffraction by seeing how x-rays reflected off the substance they could estimate what it looked like on a molecular level. -
He developed the idea of delocalized electrons in trying to understand the properties of graphite. He won the Nobel prize for this work. -
They showed a single layer of graphene for the first time. For decades scientists struggled to get a single layer of graphene for study. Most sections made were still 50-100 layers thick. -
Used mechanical exfoliation (stripping off layers physically) but still nothing thinner than 50 layers. -
Geim and Novoselov at the university of Manchester managed to get a single atom layer of graphene using the scotch tape technique using a piece of sellotape they removed a single layer of graphene from a block of graphite. They then chemically dissolved the tape leaving only the graphene. They received the Nobel prize for their method.