Layer-by-Layer Sorting of Rhenium Disulfide via High-Density Isopycnic Density Gradient Ultracentrifugation

Isopycnic density gradient ultracentrifugation (iDGU) has been widely applied to sort nanomaterials by their physical and electronic structure. However, the commonly used density-gradient medium iodixanol has a finite maximum buoyant density that prevents the use of iDGU for high-density nanomaterials. Here, we overcome this limit by adding cesium chloride (CsCl) to iodixanol, thus increasing its maximum buoyant density to the point where the high-density two-dimensional nanomaterial rhenium disulfide (ReS₂) can be sorted in a layer-by-layer manner with iDGU. The resulting aqueous ReS₂ dispersions show photoluminescence at ∼1.5 eV, which is consistent with its direct bandgap semiconductor electronic structure. Furthermore, photocurrent measurements on thin films formed from solution-processed ReS₂ show a spectral response that is consistent with optical absorbance and photoluminescence data. In addition to providing a pathway for effective solution processing of ReS₂, this work establishes a general methodology for sorting high-density nanomaterials via iDGU.