Adv. Mater. http://doi.org/f3jqnc (2015)

A critical challenge in realizing the applications potential held by graphene is the ability to synthesize large-area and high-quality sheets. Chemical vapour deposition is an attractive approach for this, and relies on the use of a typically crystalline metallic substrate. Zhongfan Liu and co-workers now take a different approach. They grow high-quality graphene disks on molten soda-lime-silica glass, achieving rapid nucleation and growth rates due to energy input from the thermally-softened substrate. A particular advantage of the glassy substrate is that its isotropic nature means that graphene nucleation is not favoured at specific sites. Instead, graphene disks nucleate homogeneously and converge to form a continuous film. The authors additionally demonstrate that their 'glassy graphene' could find use in smart heating devices. Such a synthesis strategy is ironically similar to that used for the production of soda-lime-silica glass for windows, in which it floats on a bed of molten tin, to achieve a smooth surface finish.