2D Oxides

The Electroceramics Group is interested in two-dimensional oxides due to their interesting physical, chemical, and electronic properties. Via wet chemical methods, various layered metal oxides (which have strong in-plane bonding, but weak interplane bonding) can be exfoliated to form freestanding atomically thin nanosheets. Like any material, the properties associated with the bulk can drastically change when transforming to 0D, 1D, or 2D nanomaterials. These nanomaterials have been of much interest in the research community leading to many new and interesting properties and applications. Intriguingly, when working with oxides in two-dimensions, unique properties begin to develop due to the high surface area of oxygen. The properties of these two-dimensional materials can also be tuned based off of defects, or morphology. For example, 2D-MoS2’s band gap can be tuned from indirect to direct depending on the thickness of the material. Due to the limited research conducted on oxide materials in two-dimensions, reproducible routes for exfoliation have not been established. Our work focuses on producing high quality, reproducible oxide nanosheets while maintaining a control over composition and morphology. To fully understand the applications of these exfoliated nanosheets, processing-structure-property relationships are being investigated. From this, the properties of these freestanding two-dimensional nanosheets can be applied for possible uses in energy generation and storage, catalysis, sensors, and optoelectronics to name a few.