ABSTRACT
The mechanical cleavage of graphite to graphene is reviewed here. Novoselov and Geim obtained single-layer graphene by the sophisticated stick-and-tear handling of a scotch tape on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface. The van der Waals forces in graphite are weak enough for easy cleavage. However, a graphene sheet is too oppy to be peeled to a single layer by conventional methods. To surmount this disadvantage, graphite intercalation compounds are used for the practical production of graphene.
