Towards the liquid phase exfoliation of bismuth iodide

Liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) of layered compounds towards few- or monolayers has been established as one of the prime methods in the growing field of 2D material research. Here, we present first steps towards an effective LPE of bismuth(iii) iodide, a semiconductor with potential as a photovoltaic absorber material. We highlight guidelines in the choice of exfoliating solvent, which differ significantly from those used with transition metal dichalcogenides or graphene. We also present first evidence of successful few-layer formation from spectroscopic, electron microscopy and electron diffraction investigations.