title: Surface Tension Components Ratio: An Efficient Parameter for Direct Liquid Phase Exfoliation.
abstract: Direct liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) is generally regarded as an effective and efficient methodology for preparing single- to few-layered nanosheets on a large scale. Based on a previous finding that the polar and dispersive components of surface tension can be used as critical parameters for screening suitable solvents for LPE, in this study, we conducted in-depth research on direct LPE of two-dimensional (2D) materials by the extensive LPE of a series of 2D materials and the thorough comparison of their surfaces properties and LPE efficiencies. We rationally developed the surface tension component matching (STCM) theory, and in nature, its key point lies in the close ratio of polar to dispersive components (P/D) between the solvents and the aimed 2D materials. To this end, the surface tension components ratio is demonstrated to be an effective parameter for screening LPE solvents. In addition to the optimization of the LPE process for these 2D materials, this work has further greatly enlarged the comprehensive library for the solvent and 2D material matching pairs based on the improved STCM theory.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Special Materials and Technology, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Special Materials and Technology, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Special Materials and Technology, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Yuancai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Pei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dong
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: Baines
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
authors.affiliation: Institute of Special Materials and Technology, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Mingxin
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4532-2594
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Institute of Special Materials and Technology, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, China.|Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Jianfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
keywords: cosolvent; liquid phase exfoliation; polar and dispersive components; surface tension components ratio; two-dimensional materials