Fast and efficient shear-force assisted production of covalently functionalized oxide nanosheets

HYPOTHESIS

While controlled and efficient exfoliation of layered oxides often remains a time consuming challenge, the surface modification of inorganic nanosheets is of outmost importance for future applications. The functionalization of the bulk material prior to exfoliation should allow the application of tools developped for Van der Waals materials to directly produce functionalized oxide nanosheets.

EXPERIMENTS

The Aurivillius phase Bi₂SrTa₂O₉ is functionalized by a linear aliphatic phosphonic acid via microwave-assisted reactions. The structure of the hybrid material and the coordination of the phosphonate group is scrutinized, notably by Pair Distribution Function. This functionalized layered oxide is then exfoliated in one hour in organic solvent, using high shear force dispersion. The obtained nanosheets are characterized in suspension and as deposits to check their chemical integrity.

FINDINGS

The covalent functionalization decreases the electrostatic cohesion between the inorganic layers leading to an efficient exfoliation in short time under shearing. The functionalization of the bulk material is preserved on the nanosheets upon exfoliation and plays a major role to enable liquid-phase exfoliation and in the stability of the resulting suspensions. This strategy is very promising for the straighforward preparation of functionalized nanosheets, paving the way for versatile design of new (multi)functional hybrid nanosheets for various potential applications.

Lateral-size control of exfoliated transition-metal-oxide 2D materials by machine learning on small data

A wide variety of nanosheets including monolayers and few-layers have attracted much interest as two-dimensional (2D) materials for the unique anisotropic structures and properties. On the other hand, one of the significant remaining and challenging issues is the lateral-size control. Since 2D materials are generally synthesized by the exfoliation of layered materials, the lateral size is not easily controlled in the breaking-down processes. The experimental factors have not been found for the control and prediction. In the present work, lateral sizes of the exfoliated transition-metal-oxide nanosheets were predicted and controlled by the assistance of machine learning. Layered composites of host inorganic layers and guest organic molecules were exfoliated into nanosheets in organic dispersion media. The lateral size of the nanosheets was estimated by dynamic light scattering (DLS), instead of microscopy methods, to achieve high-throughput analyses. Factors governing the lateral size are explored on the small experimental data by the assistance of sparse modeling, a method of machine learning. The eight physicochemical parameters of the organic guests and dispersion media were extracted by sparse modeling for the construction of the size-prediction model. The size-prediction model accelerated the selective syntheses of the nanosheets with large and small lateral sizes in a limited number of experiments. The results indicate that the prediction model is a guideline to find suitable exfoliation conditions for size control. Size-selective syntheses of a variety of 2D materials can be achieved by similar methods using sparse modeling on small experimental data. Moreover, sparse modeling is applicable to control the design and exploration of other materials and their processing based on small data.

Intercalation and flexibility chemistries of soft layered materials

Layered materials, alternate stackings of two or more components, are found in a wide range of scales. Chemists can design and synthesize layered structures containing functional units. The soft-type layered materials exhibit characteristic dynamic functions originating from two-dimensional (2D) anisotropy and structure flexibility. This feature article focuses on "intercalation" and "flexibility" as two new perspectives for designing soft layered materials. Intercalation of guests is a characteristic approach for design of layered structures. Flexibility is an important factor to control the dynamic functions of the layered structures. As a model case, the intercalation-induced tunable stimuli-responsive color-change properties of layered polydiacetylene (PDA) are introduced to study the impact of the intercalation and flexibility on the dynamic functions. Recently, layered materials have drastically expanded the research area from conventional rigid inorganic compounds to new self-assembled nanostructures consisting of organic components, such as polymers, metal-organic frameworks, and covalent-organic frameworks. These new layered architectures have potentials for exhibiting dynamic functions originating from the structure flexibility beyond the static properties originating from classical intercalation and host-guest chemistries. Therefore, intercalation and flexibility chemistries of soft layered materials are regarded as new perspectives for design of advanced dynamic functional materials.

Formation processes, size changes, and properties of nanosheets derived from exfoliation of soft layered inorganic-organic composites

Exfoliation is a general route to obtain two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials. A variety of methods have been developed for controlled exfoliation of layered materials based on stacking via van der Waals interaction, such as graphite and transition-metal dichalcogenides. On the other hand, rigid layered materials consisting of inorganic layers and interlayer metal ions stacked via electrostatic interaction, such as transition-metal oxides and clays, have a limited number of exfoliation methods. Here we studied a new exfoliation route through formation of soft layered composites. Intercalation of guest organic molecules changed rigid inorganic layered compounds into soft layered composites with stacking via van der Waals interaction. The soft layered inorganic-organic composites were exfoliated into surface-modified nanosheets in organic media. The layered composites showed swelling with dispersion in organic media. The time-course analyses suggest that the layered composites were simultaneously exfoliated in the vertical direction and fractured in the lateral direction. Thinner and smaller nanosheets were obtained with an increase in the exfoliation time. Although the resultant nanosheets gradually aggregated in the colloidal liquid, the original dispersion state was recovered with sonication for 5 min at room temperature. This exfoliation route using soft layered composites can be used in the synthesis and application of a variety of 2D nanomaterials.

Few-layered titanate nanosheets with large lateral size and surface functionalization: potential for the controlled exfoliation of inorganic–organic layered composites

A new straightforward exfoliation method realizes the selective synthesis of few-layered titanate nanosheets with a large lateral size and surface functionalization.

Two exfoliation approaches for organic layered compounds: hydrophilic and hydrophobic polydiacetylene nanosheets

Nanosheets have attracted much interest because of their characteristic properties originating from anisotropic and flexible structures. Inorganic nanosheets are synthesized from precursor layered compounds through exfoliation in a liquid phase. In contrast, a versatile exfoliation approach has not been fully studied for organic layered compounds. Here we report two exfoliation approaches for organic layered compounds. Hydrophilic and hydrophobic polydiacetylene (PDA) nanosheets, around 5 nm in thickness, are obtained through exfoliation of the layered precursor in aqueous and nonpolar organic media, respectively. The intercalation of ions and molecules in the interlayer space facilitates swelling and exfoliation. The resultant PDA nanosheets showed characteristic photochemical properties originating from the flexible structure. The exfoliation approach can be applied to a variety of organic layered compounds for the generation of designed nanosheets.

Surface-functionalized hydrophilic monolayer of titanate and its application for dopamine detection

A surface-functionalized hydrophilic charge-neutral monolayer of titanate was exfoliated from the precursor layered composite in aqueous media without addition of a delamination agent. The hydrophilic monolayer was applied for the detection of dopamine based on visible-light absorption originating from charge-transfer excitation from adsorbed dopamine to titanate.

Tunable photochemical properties of a covalently anchored and spatially confined organic polymer in a layered compound

A covalently anchored and spatially confined organic polymer was formed in a layered compound with a surface-modified layer. The resultant anchored and confined polymer showed tunable photochemical properties with the incorporation of a variety of guest molecules originating from the specific incorporation states. The layer surface of an inorganic layered compound was modified by an organic molecule with vinyl groups. The precursor layered composite accommodated N-vinylcarbazole (VCz), a vinyl monomer, in the hydrophobic interlayer space. The introduction of VCz induced the simultaneous exfoliation of the layered structures and copolymerization with vinyl groups on the layer surface. The covalently anchored and spatially confined poly(N-vinylcarbazole) (PVCz) with tunable photochemical properties was formed in a layered structure. The present study shows the versatile potential of polymers with anchored and confined states in surface-functionalized layered composites.

Surface-functionalized monolayered nanodots of a transition metal oxide and their properties

Transition metal oxide monolayers with controlled lateral size, surface chemistry, and properties are obtained in a nonpolar organic medium.