Impossible material made possible inside a graphene sandwich

A single layer of cuprous iodide encapsulated in between two sheets of graphene (gray atoms). Kimmo Mustonen, Christoph Hofer und Viera Skákalov) - Atoms bind together by sharing electrons. The way this happens depends on the atom types but also on conditions such as temperature and pressure. In two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene, atoms join along a plane to form structures just one atom thick, which leads to fascinating properties determined by quantum mechanics. Researchers at the University of Vienna in collaboration with the Universities of Tübingen, Antwerp and CY Cergy Paris, together with Danubia NanoTech, have produced a new 2D material made of copper and iodine atoms sandwiched between two graphene sheets. The results were published in the journal Advanced Materials. The design of new materials allows for either improved efficiency of known applications or totally new applications that were out of reach with the previously existing materials.