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Effect of surfactant choice and concentration on the dimensions and yield of liquid-phase-exfoliated nanosheets

Liquid-phase exfoliation has progressed in recent years to become a common method for production of 2D materials. During exfoliation, surfactants can be used to stabilize the nanosheets against reaggregation. Here, using WS2 as a model system, we explore the effect of varying surfactant type and con...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Griffin, Aideen (Author) , Nisi, Katharina (Author) , Pepper, Joshua (Author) , Harvey, Andrew (Author) , Szydłowska, Beata Maria (Author) , Coleman, Jonathan N. (Author) , Backes, Claudia (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: March 27, 2020
In: Chemistry of materials
Year: 2020, Volume: 32, Issue: 7, Pages: 2852-2862
ISSN:1520-5002
DOI:10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b04684
Online Access:Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b04684
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Author Notes:Aideen Griffin, Katharina Nisi, Joshua Pepper, Andrew Harvey, Beata M. Szydłowska, Jonathan N. Coleman and Claudia Backes
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Summary:Liquid-phase exfoliation has progressed in recent years to become a common method for production of 2D materials. During exfoliation, surfactants can be used to stabilize the nanosheets against reaggregation. Here, using WS2 as a model system, we explore the effect of varying surfactant type and concentration on the yield and dimensions of the exfoliated nanosheets. For ionic surfactants, the mass of nanosheets produced was widely constant for low surfactant concentrations but decreased sharply for surfactant concentrations above ∼10 mM, regardless of surfactant. Very similar surfactant-concentration dependence was observed for both nanosheet length and thickness. Contrary to previous reports, this data implies that the optimum surfactant concentration is not linked to the critical micelle concentration. In addition, we found that surfactant concentrations as low as 0.07 mM yielded stable nanosheet dispersions with zeta potentials above 40 mV. By decoupling the exfoliation and stabilization effects of the surfactant, we have shown that it is the (de)stabilization process, rather than the exfoliation process, which links nanosheet concentration, size, and thickness to surfactant concentration.
Item Description:Gesehen am 12.05.2020
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1520-5002
DOI:10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b04684

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