Janus nanosheets were prepared from K4Nb6O17·3H2O by modifying surfaces of their two distinct interlayers in a regioselective and sequential manner and subsequent exfoliation. The surface properties of nanosheets were investigated by phase atomic force microscopy imaging and two types of surfaces were discriminated, indicating that Janus nanosheets were successfully prepared.

Inorganic Janus nanosheets were successfully prepared using the difference in reactivity between interlayers I and II of layered hexaniobate K 4 Nb6O 17 ·3H 2 O. Janus nanosheets exhibit the highest anisotropy among Janus compounds due to their morphology. It is therefore important to prepare Janus nanosheets with stable shapes in various solvents, robust chemical bonds between nanosheets and fuctional groups and high versatility due to surface functional groups. K 4 Nb 6 O 17 ·3H 2 O, which possesses two types of interlayers and two types of organophosphonic acids that react with metal oxides to form robust covalent bonds, was employed to prepare Janus nanosheets for this study. Interlayer I was modified by octadecylphosphonic acid, followed by modification by carboxypropylphosphonic acid mainly at interlayer II. Preparation of Janus nanosheets with two organophosphonate moieties was confirmed by 31 P MAS NMR. After these regioselective and sequential modifications, the products were exfoliated into single-layered nanosheets in THF. Two types of derivatives with different repeating distances were recovered from a dispersion containing nanosheets exfoliated by different processes, centrifugation, and solvent evaporation. AFM analysis of the exfoliated nanosheets revealed that the products were Janus compounds. There are high expectations for application of these types of Janus nanosheets in various fields and for design of various Janus nanosheets using this preparation method.There are various methods of preparing Janus nanoparticles. Regioselective surface modification of nanoparticles can produce Janus nanoparticles [11]. By forming nanoparticles with two raw materials, Janus nanoparticles with different compositions can be prepared [2]. Self-assembly and subsequent cross-linking of polymer chains can also produce Janus nanoparticles [12]. Janus rods can be prepared by forming silica using TEOS by the sol-gel method on Fe 3 O 4 regioselectively [13]. Janus cylinders can be prepared by masking one side of a cylinder and conducting subsequent modification of the other side [14].Janus nanosheets exhibit the highest anisotropy among Janus compounds due to their unique morphology. They are also useful as emulsifiers, because Janus nanosheets cannot rotate at the interfaces of micelles [15]. Most Janus nanosheets reported so far have consisted of polymers. Stupp et al. reported the preparation of Janus nanosheets by polymerization of oligomers with polymerizable groups [16]. Polymerization of oligomers led to the formation of sheet morphology, because the polymerizable groups were located at the center of an oligomer. Walther et al. used triblock copolymers, polystyrene-block-polybutadiene-block-poly(tert-butyl methacrylate), for preparing Janus nanosheets [17]. Janus nanosheets were prepared by cross-linking polybutadiene domains of the triblock copolymers, and the resulting Janus nanosheets had two types of surfaces, polystyrene, and poly(tertbutyl methacrylate) moieties. These methods are based on selective polym...

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