2D materials are single or few layered materials consisting of one or several elements with a thickness of a few nanometres. Their unique, tuneable physical and chemical properties including ease of chemical functionalisation makes this class of materials useful in a variety of technological applications. The feasibility of 2D materials strongly depends on better synthetic approaches to improve properties, increase performance, durability and reduce costs. As such, in the synthesis of nanomaterials, hydrothermal processes are widely adopted through a precursor–product synthesis route. This method includes batch or continuous flow systems, both employing water at elevated temperatures (above boiling point) and pressures to fine‐tune the physical, chemical, optical and electronic properties of the nanomaterial. Both techniques yield particles with different morphology, size and surface area due to different mechanisms of particle formation. In this Minireview, we present batch and continuous hydrothermal flow synthesis of a selection of 2D derivatives (graphene, MXene and molybdenum disulfide), their chemical functionalisation as an advantageous approach in exploring properties of these materials as well as the benefits and challenges of employing these processes, and an outlook for further research.
2D materials consist of a single or a few layers, each layer being one or several atoms thickness. The use of the 2D substrate facilitates the design and discovery of 2D based advanced functional materials with tuneable and superior properties from the parent 2D material through hydrothermal approaches. The utilisation of creative synthetic protocols, such as batch and continuous hydrothermal flow syntheses, create diverse and unique opportunities to engineer and deliver 2D derivatives with new or enhanced characteristics, and even unexpected new phenomena. For more details see the Minireview by S. Kellici et al. on page 6447 ff.
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