\u201cUnder atomic-scale control of these graphene-based nanostructures, researchers are able to build fascinating new structures,\u201d noted Vanderbilt University Distinguished Professor of Physics and Engineering\u00a0Sokrates T. Pantelides<\/a>\u00a0who collaborated on the research. \u201cIn the future, these fundamental discoveries are likely to serve as groundwork for new devices our current generation can\u2019t even begin to imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n While the ancient art form of origami is currently used in large-scale applications, such as in architecture or battery design, researchers have long sought to apply origami techniques to small atomic structures, including graphene \u2013 a two-dimensional semimetal and \u201csupermaterial\u201d capturing the attention of researchers around the world for its properties of tensile strength, flexibility and impermeability \u2013 to name a few. However, technological limitations prevented researchers from using origami\u2019s fine control to build and manipulate custom graphene structures.<\/p>\n A collaboration between Pantelides,\u00a0University of Maryland Professor Min Ouyang, and a team of researchers at the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing headed by Professor Hong-Jun Gao, the findings build on many years of investigations of carbon-based nanostructures, including the discovery of carbon nanotubes and the successful isolation of monolayer graphene, which was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-news\/20190906115034\/Pantelides_Sokrates-2-371x600.jpg\")