combination with the fast electronic conduction of graphene sheets, this system offers both ionic and electronic conductivity within the same single-phase solid material. This has important implications for energy storage devices such as lithium ion batteries. Ultrahard carbon from epitaxial bilayer graphene Researchers from the City University of New York have shown that sheets of bilayer graphene on silicon carbide temporarily become harder than diamond upon impact with the tip of an atomic force microscope. This was attributed to a graphite-diamond transition, and the behavior appeared to be unique to bilayer graphene. This could have applications in personal armor. Porous nanoflakes Hybridization processes change the intrinsic properties of graphene and/or induce poor interfaces. In 2014 a general route to obtain unstacked graphene via facile, templated, catalytic growth was announced. The resulting material has a specific surface area of 1628 m2 g-1, is electrically conductive and has a mesoporous structure. The material is made with a mesoporous nanoflake template. Graphene layers are deposited onto the template. The carbon atoms accumulate in the mesopores, forming protuberances that act as spacers to prevent stacking. The protuberance density is approximately . Graphene is deposited on both sides of the flakes. During CVD synthesis the protuberances produce intrinsically unstacked double-layer graphene after the removal of the nanoflakes. The presence of such protuberances on the surface can weaken the π-π interactions between graphene layers and thus reduce stacking. The bilayer graphene shows a specific surface area of , a pore size ranging from 2 to 7 nm and a total pore volume of . Using bilayer graphene as cathode material for a lithium sulfur battery yielded reversible capacities of 1034 and 734 mA h/g at discharge rates of 5 and 10 C, respectively. After 1000 cycles reversible capacities of some 530 and 380 mA h/g were retained at 5 and 10 C, with coulombic efficiency constants at 96 and 98%, respectively. Electrical conductivity of 438 S/cm was obtained. Even after the infiltration of sulfur, electrical conductivity of 107 S cm/1 was retained. The graphene's unique porous structure allowed the effective storage of sulfur in the interlayer space, which gives rise to an efficient connection between the sulfur and graphene and prevents the diffusion of polysulfides into the electrolyte. Characterization Hyperspectral global Raman imaging is an accurate and rapid technique to spatially characterize product quality. The vibrational modes of a system characterize it, providing information on stoichiometry,