 CUNY alloys have been found to be excellent substrates for growing large area single crystal graphene due to their high catalytic activity and ability to rapidly produce carbon precursors. These precursors are thought to reduce the nucleation density of graphene, which is typically increased by high concentrations of carbon atoms at the surface. However, this effect has not been fully explained. In this study, researchers investigated the effects of varying the composition of the CUNY alloy and found that the presence of nickel atoms significantly reduced the number of carbon atoms at the surface, thus reducing the nucleation density. Additionally, they discovered that carbon atoms diffused more slowly through the alloy, resulting in a lower nucleation density. Finally, they observed that the rate of carbon diffusion into the bulk was much faster when the nickel content was higher than the percolation threshold, suggesting that the presence of nickel atoms increases the mobility of carbon atoms within the alloy. This article was authored by Yifan Liu, Qianru Wu, Yuling Yin, and others. We are article.tv, links in the description below.