Redox-mediated high-yield exfoliation of layered composites into nanosheets

A variety of organic and inorganic layered compounds are exfoliated into 2D nanomaterials in liquid phase. Improvement of exfoliation yield is a significant challenge for further applications of 2D nanomaterials. However, yield of transition-metal-oxide nanosheets is not so high, such as around 5% for 240 h and 15% for 120 h, in previous exfoliation methods. Here we show a new exfoliation approach to high-yield synthesis of nanosheets. A layered composite of cobalt hydroxide and guest quinone derivative was exfoliated into nanosheets through redox reactions of the interlayer guests in the yield 1657% for 1 h under mild conditions. The redox reactions of the guest molecules on the layer facilitate efficient exfoliation through improvement of the affinity between the guest and dispersion medium. The present redox-mediated exfoliation approach can be applied to efficient synthesis of a variety of 2D nanomaterials from layered composites.