There seems to be little that graphene can't do. While previous
studies have shown that it can repair itself, with a little
assistance from heat or pressure, new research suggests that it
can actually fix holes in its structure entirely unaided. The
research, carried out at the University of Manchester, shows
that graphene manages to absorb loose carbon atoms in its
vicinity to repair holes in its structure. Amazingly, they just
appear to snap into place, as if by magic. In fact, the
researchers noticed the effect by accident. They were trying to
understand how and why holes formed in the sheets of graphene
when they added metal contacts to the material. To their
surprise, they noticed that when stray carbon atoms were near
the holes, they quickly filled the gaps, in turn repairing the
sheet. The finding, published in Nano Letters, is both amazing
and incredibly useful. Because graphene is so thin—just a single
layer of carbon atoms—it is incredibly easily damaged. This
research suggests that it should be pos