A universal method for rapid and large‐scale growth of layered crystals

Abstract

Layered van der Waals (vdW) materials, consisting of atomically thin layers, are of paramount importance in physics, chemistry, and materials science owing to their unique properties and various promising applications. However, their fast and large-scale growth via a general approach is still a big challenge, severely limiting their practical implementations. Here, we report a universal method for rapid (~60 min) and large-scale (gram scale) growth of phase-pure, high-crystalline layered vdW materials from their elementary powders via microwave plasma heating in sealed ampoules. This method can be used for growth of 30 compounds with different components (binary, ternary, and quaternary) and properties. The ferroelectric and transport properties of mechanically exfoliated flakes validate the high crystal quality of the grown materials. Our study provides a general strategy for the fast and large-scale growth of layered vdW materials with appealing physiochemical properties, which could be used for various promising applications.

Self‐Assembly of 2D Nanosheets into 1D Nanostructures for Sensing NO2

“…Apart from graphene, ultrathin 2D transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanosheets are receiving increasing attention due to their unique chemical and electronic properties, endowing them with great potential in various applications such as sensors, catalysis, biomedicine, (opto)electronics, and energy storage devices. [ 22–38 ] With similar 2D configuration with GO and rGO, TMD nanosheets also could serve as a new class of promising building blocks to be assembled into various nanostructures. [ 6,39 ] Previously, we developed a general polymer‐assisted assembly strategy for the self‐assembly of single‐ or few‐layer TMDs, including MoS 2 , TiS 2 , TaS 2 , TaSe 2 and WSe 2 , and GO, into helical nanofibers and nanorings with the aid of vortex.…”

High‐Yield Exfoliation of Ultrathin 2D Ni3Cr2P2S9 and Ni3Cr2P2Se9 Nanosheets

“…[ 1–9 ] Recent studies have revealed that introducing a third element into binary layered 2D metal chalcogenides allows the preparation of ternary layered 2D nanomaterials, such as metal chalcogenides (e.g., Ta 2 NiS 5 and Cu 2 WS 4 ) [ 10–13 ] and metal phosphorus trichalcogenides (MPS 3 : M = Mn, Fe, Ni, Zn, etc.). [ 14–19 ] These ternary layered 2D nanomaterials normally exhibit distinct physicochemical properties and innovative applications as compared to binary 2D metal chalcogenide nanomaterials due to their unique crystal structures and versatile compositions. [ 20 ] For example, ternary Ta 2 NiS 5 nanosheets have been reported to exhibit excellent performance in biosensors for DNA detection, [ 10 ] and photothermal cancer therapy.…”

“…Inspired by intriguing properties and innovative applications of ternary layered 2D nanomaterials, great effort has been devoted to the exploration of quaternary layered metal thiophosphate 2D nanomaterials, such as CuMP 2 S 6 (M = In, Cr, Ag). [ 19,22–27 ] It was found that 2D CuInP 2 S 6 nanoflakes prepared by mechanical exfoliation from its bulk crystal show room‐temperature ferroelectricity with a transition temperature of ≈320 K, [ 22,23 ] making it promising in applications like sensors, actuators, and nonvolatile memory devices. However, the multiple elemental composition makes it more challenging for the high‐yield preparation of high‐quality quaternary layered metal thiophosphate 2D nanomaterials.…”

Continuous orientated growth of scaled single-crystal 2D monolayer films

“…Overall, although we have witnessed great achievements over the last two decades, [127][128][129][130][131] the growth of scaled single-crystal 2D materials is still challenging. Tremendous efforts still need to be made to bury the giant gap between the laboratory-scale and industry-level in CVD growth of single-crystal 2D materials.…”