Metal telluride nanosheets by scalable solid lithiation and exfoliation

Area of Science:

• Condensed-matter physics
• Materials science
• Chemistry

Background:

• Transition metal tellurides (TMTs) exhibit exotic properties but traditional synthesis methods yield small quantities.
• Top-down exfoliation of TMTs is time-consuming and produces insufficient material for market applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a rapid and scalable synthesis for various MTe2 (M = Nb, Mo, W, Ta, Ti) nanosheets.
• To enable the exploration of quantum phenomena and applications of TMT nanosheets.

Main Methods:

• Solid lithiation of bulk MTe2 followed by rapid hydrolysis.
• Synthesis achieved within minutes for lithiation and seconds for hydrolysis.

Main Results:

• Scalable production of over 100 grams of NbTe2 nanosheets with controlled thickness and lateral size.
• Observed quantum phenomena like quantum oscillations and giant magnetoresistance in synthesized nanosheets.
• Demonstrated performance of TMT nanosheets in lithium-oxygen batteries and microsupercapacitors.

Conclusions:

• The developed method offers a universal and scalable route for TMT nanosheet synthesis.
• This facilitates the exploration of new quantum phenomena and commercial applications.
• The method is also effective for preparing alloyed telluride, selenide, and sulfide nanosheets.