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2D MATERIALS

Phase- and composition-controlled synthesis

Nature Materials (2022)Cite this article

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A general method by controlling reaction kinetics is proposed to synthesize 67 kinds of two-dimensional crystal with custom-made phases and compositions, in particular, Fe- and Cr-based (layered and non-layered) chalcogenides and phosphorous chalcogenides, which show interesting ferromagnetism and superconductivity properties.

Transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) have attracted intensive attention because of the abundant choice of materials with diverse and tunable electronic, magnetic and optical properties. Synthesizing TMCs as thin films is challenging because of the high melting points of the transition metal and transition metal oxide precursors. A molten-salt-assisted chemical vapour deposition method could overcome this shortcoming1. When the metal precursors are reacted with salts, the melting points decrease to 600–850 °C, which facilitates the thin-film synthesis. It has been shown that the mass flux determines the nucleus and growth domain, while the reaction time affects the grain size of the thin film. Therefore, large thin films have been achieved with low mass flux and short reaction times. On the basis of this method, a large variety of layered TMCs based on 4d and 5d transition metals have been synthesized. However, the controllable synthesis of 3d transition metal-based TMCs, for example, the Fe- and Cr-based TMCs and transition metal phosphorous chalcogenides (TMPCs), which exhibit interesting phases (layered and non-layered structures) and physical properties2,3,4,5,6,7, has not been systematically explored. In particular, considering the variable valence states, polymorphs and phases, a general method to synthesize TMCs and TMPCs selectively with ‘on-demand’ phase and composition is challenging, but essential for fundamental study and for applications. Now, writing in Nature Materials, Jiadong Zhou and colleagues propose a competitive chemical reaction growth mechanism that offers a framework for growing various two-dimensional (2D) TMCs and TMPCs with 3d transition metals, enabling crystal growth with desired phases and composition by sophisticated control of experimental parameters such as the amount and size of the precursors and the reaction temperature8.

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Fig. 1: Phase- and composition-controlled growth of TMCs and TMPCs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Low-Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of Korea

    Weiguang Yang & Hyeon Suk Shin

  2. Department of Chemistry and Research Institute of Basic Sciences, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Jieun Yang

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  1. Weiguang Yang
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  2. Jieun Yang
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  3. Hyeon Suk Shin
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Correspondence to Jieun Yang or Hyeon Suk Shin.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Yang, W., Yang, J. & Shin, H.S. Phase- and composition-controlled synthesis. Nat. Mater. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01301-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01301-6

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