Scientists at the Groningen Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials made a possibly valuable progress in allowing simpler, scalable graphene production by growing graphene on copper oxide.
The scientists analyzed a sample of graphene on copper and witnesses the presence of copper oxide alongside the copper. Since oxidized metals sometimes tend to leave the properties of graphene unaltered, the scientists studied this further and managed to successfully grow graphene on copper oxide. The team also reports that graphene on copper oxide is decoupled from the substrate, which means that it preserves its electronic properties.
If proper modifications and advancements are achieved, these results could mean that large crystals of graphene could be grown on copper oxide. If this proves to be the case, it should then be possible to use lithographic techniques to make all sorts of electronic devices from graphene in a commercially viable manner.