Isolation of Nb₂Se₉ Molecular Chain from Bulk One-Dimensional Crystal by Liquid Exfoliation

• Published in: Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 8; no. 10; p. 794
• Main Authors: Chae, Sudong, Siddiqa, Akhtar J, Oh, Seungbae, Kim, Bum Jun, Choi, Kyung Hwan, Jang, Woo-Sung, Kim, Young-Min, Yu, Hak Ki, Choi, Jae-Young
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI 06-10-2018; MDPI AG
• Subjects: 1D materials; liquid exfoliation; Nb2Se9; solvent dispersion; 1D materials; solvent dispersion; liquid exfoliation; Nb2Se9
• ISSN: 2079-4991; 2079-4991
• DOI: 10.3390/nano8100794

The optimum solvent for Nb₂Se₉ dispersion, which is a new type of one dimensional (1D) material, is investigated. Among several solvents (16 solvents in total), strong dispersion was observed in benzyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, isobutyl alcohol, and diacetone alcohol, which have medium dielectric constants in the range of 10 to 30 and surface tension in the range of 25 to 35 mJ m
. 1D Nb₂Se₉ chains, whose size is less than 10 nm, are well dispersed and it is possible to disperse mono-chains of 1 nm or less in a specific dispersion region. The 1D unit chain with dangling bond free surface and high volume to area ratio is expected to be used in applications that utilize the surface of the material. Such dispersion is an important first step towards various potential applications and is an indispensable scientific goal for the practical applications of Nb₂Se₉.