  As a part of science of science (SciSci) research, the evolution of
scientific disciplines has been attracting a great deal of attention recently.
This kind of discipline level analysis not only give insights of one particular
field but also shed light on general principles of scientific enterprise. In
this paper we focus on graphene research, a fast growing field covers both
theoretical and applied study. Using co-clustering method, we split graphene
literature into two groups and confirm that one group is about theoretical
research (T) and another corresponds to applied research (A). We analyze the
proportion of T/A and found applied research becomes more and more popular
after 2007. Geographical analysis demonstrated that countries have different
preference in terms of T/A and they reacted differently to research trend. The
interaction between two groups has been analyzed and shows that T extremely
relies on T and A heavily relies on A, however the situation is very stable for
T but changed markedly for A. No geographic difference is found for the
interaction dynamics. Our results give a comprehensive picture of graphene
research evolution and also provide a general framework which is able to
analyze other disciplines.
