Advanced Synthetic Approaches to Two-Dimensional Inorganic Nanostructures

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About this Research Topic

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Background

2D inorganic crystalline nanostructures, with thickness spanning length scales of a few nanometers down to the single atomic plane limit, exhibit a wealth of unique physical and chemical properties at the crossover between those of one-dimensionally confined systems and those of extended materials. Ultrathin platelets, disks, sheets, ribbons, and dendrites, made either from entirely covalent or ionic solids, or from lamellar van der Waals compounds, and complex 2D/3D heterostructures thereof, represent an advanced class of nanoscale platforms capable of accommodating size-dependent electronic and crystal-phase transitions, of hosting quantum confinement effects, of allowing anisotropic structural, mechanical, thermal behavior, and/or of expressing intriguing chemical and photochemical reactivity. 2D nano(hetero)structures with engineered chemical and crystal-phase composition, size parameters, and bonding connectivity hold promise as key functional elements through which a diversity of well-established and/or even entirely novel optoelectronic, photo(electro)catalytic, and energy conversion/storage functionalities may be manipulated to underlie the operation of innovative process and devices with an unprecedented high level of sophistication and efficiency.

At its heart, the push toward expanding both fundamental and application-based knowledge in this frontier of nanomaterials-based research relies on the availability of effective methods for the scalable fabrication, processing, transfer, and integration of controlled 2D crystalline nano(hetero)structures. The validation of these routes through an assessment of the underlying growth mechanisms, and of the impact of post-synthesis manipulations on the ultimate structure-property relationships in the as-derived 2D nanomaterials, is essential to enabling the deliberate exploitation of their functionalities for targeted applications.

This Research Topic aims to collect original research and review-type articles addressing development of rational synthetic approaches to 2D inorganic nanomaterials with programmable structural features and properties. We welcome submissions covering all experimental and theoretical aspects related to the fabrication (by both physical and chemical routes), growth mechanisms, post-synthesis manipulation (e.g. functionalization, phase transformation, etc.), assembly (e.g. into films, superstructures), and chemical-physical characterization (both by ensemble and local-probe investigative tools) of 2D crystalline nano(hetero)structures across the realms of both non-lamellar and lamellar van der Waals materials.

Keywords: two-dimensional inorganic materials, phase engineering, nano(hetero)structuring, chemical synthesis, growth mechanisms

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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