Two-dimensional Polymers in Microscopy and Spatially Resolved Vibrational Analysis - A Review

Two-dimensional polymers comprise a novel class of macromolecules with promising mechanical and chemical properties that have recently become accessible under mild synthetic conditions. As nanometer-sized holes and defects are likely to influence these materials' properties, there is a need for analytical methods to spatially and chemically characterize them down to the nanoscale. In this article, we compare tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to common methods in nanoanalysis for the investigation of defect sites in molecularly thin 2D-polymer sheets and briefly present measures to meet the challenges arising from tip-induced degradation processes.