title: Liquid Phase Exfoliation of Two-Dimensional Materials by Directly Probing and Matching Surface Tension Components.
abstract: Exfoliation of two-dimensional (2D) materials into mono- or few layers is of significance for both fundamental studies and potential applications. In this report, for the first time surface tension components were directly probed and matched to predict solvents with effective liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) capability for 2D materials such as graphene, h-BN, WS2, MoS2, MoSe2, Bi2Se3, TaS2, and SnS2. Exfoliation efficiency is enhanced when the ratios of the surface tension components of the applied solvent is close to that of the 2D material in question. We enlarged the library of low-toxic and common solvents for LPE. Our study provides distinctive insight into LPE and has pioneered a rational strategy for LPE of 2D materials with high yield.
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.|‡Center of Special Materials and Technology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jianfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.|§School of Physical Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yongmin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Jingjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: §School of Physical Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Caitian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Kunttal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Keyshar
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Yingchao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: ‡Center of Special Materials and Technology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Mingxin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vajtai
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Pulickel M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Ajayan
keywords: Two-dimensional materials; liquid phase exfoliation; polar and dispersive components; surface tension