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Abstract

The discovery of 2D forms of matter, pioneered by graphene, has not only triggered new insights into fundamental physics but also pushed the limits of miniaturization. To process nanosheets into ultrathin functional devices, the development of scalable exfoliation routes is of key interest. Here, we demonstrate for the first time a mild, yet highly effective silver-ion-based exfoliation route for layered transition metal oxides. Single layer transition metal oxide nanosheets were obtained by applying silver ion exchange and subsequent treatment of the silver-intercalated phases with an aqueous suspension containing organic iodides. This generic exfoliation route can be widely applied also to acid-sensitive materials and allows the modification of the nanosheets with non-conventional organic ligands, which owing to their chemical functionality may be used to tailor the optoelectronic and surface properties of the nanosheet-ligand hybrid.