June 2023

Symbolic picture for the article. The link opens the image in a large view.

Hopefully your spring cleaning is already done!
Here you can see the world’s smallest broom in action. This SEM image shows a small metal tip used for cleaning surfaces on the nanoscale – in this case graphene, the thinnest material in existence (a single atomic layer of carbon). Graphene is cleaned by pressing the very small metal tip onto the surface and moving it back and forth in a sweeping motion. This cleaning method successfully removes even the tiniest contaminants down to the atomic scale.
Maybe this is an inspiration for your next cleaning action as this method works in a similar way as cleaning with a broom!