Cryo-mediated exfoliation and fracturing of layered materials into 2D quantum dots.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29250597.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.1701500 and PMC identifier 5731999.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
Atomically thin quantum dots from layered materials promise new science and applications, but their scalable synthesis and separation have been challenging. We demonstrate a universal approach for the preparation of quantum dots from a series of materials, such as graphite, MoS<sub>2</sub>, WS<sub>2</sub>, h-BN, TiS<sub>2</sub>, NbS<sub>2</sub>, Bi<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub>, MoTe<sub>2</sub>, Sb<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>, etc., using a cryo-mediated liquid-phase exfoliation and fracturing process. The method relies on liquid nitrogen pretreatment of bulk layered materials before exfoliation and breakdown into atomically thin two-dimensional quantum dots of few-nanometer lateral dimensions, exhibiting size-confined optical properties. This process is efficient for a variety of common solvents with a wide range of surface tension parameters and eliminates the use of surfactants, resulting in pristine quantum dots without surfactant covering or chemical modification.