Creating ultrathin amorphous metal hydroxide and oxide nanosheet libraries

Abstract

Designing a general strategy for synthesizing a series of 2D amorphous nanomaterials for emerging applications has become more and more fascinating and necessary. Herein, we report a general sacrificial template strategy which yields a library of 10 distinct 2D ultrathin amorphous metal hydroxide nanosheets, including mono-metal hydroxide nanosheets, binary-metal hydroxide nanosheets and ternary-metal hydroxide nanosheets. The key issue of synthesis is focused on the balance between the etching rate of the Cu₂O template and deposition rate of the metal hydroxide. Through a simple thermal treatment of the metal hydroxide precursors in an argon atmosphere, the corresponding amorphous porous metal oxide nanosheets can be easily obtained. This general method provides predictable pathways to synthesize 2D amorphous materials that are otherwise inaccessible.