TY - GEN A1 - Grönke, Martin A1 - Schmidt, Peer A1 - Valldor, Martin A1 - Oswald, Steffen A1 - Wolf, Daniel A1 - Lubk, Axel A1 - Büchner, Bernd A1 - Hampel, Silke T1 - Chemical vapor growth and delamination of α-RuCl3 nanosheets down to the monolayer limit T2 - Nanoscale N2 - 2D layered honeycomb magnet α-ruthenium(III) chloride (α-RuCl3) is a promising candidate to realize a Kitaev spin model. As alteration of physical properties on the nanoscale is additionally intended, new synthesis approaches to obtain phase pure α-RuCl3 nanocrystals have been audited. Thermodynamic simulations of occurring gas phase equilibria were performed and optimization of synthesis conditions was achieved based on calculation results. Crystal growth succeeded via chemical vapor transport (CVT) in a temperature gradient of 973 K to 773 K on YSZ substrates. Single crystal sheets of high crystallinity with heights ≤ 30 nm were obtained via pure CVT. The crystal properties were characterized by means of optical and electron microscopy, AFM, SAED, micro-Raman and XPS proving their composition, morphology, crystallinity and phase-purity. A highlight of our study is the successful individualization of nanocrystals and the delamination of nanosheets on YSZ substrates down to the monolayer limit (≤ 1 nm) which was realized by means of substrate exfoliation and ultrasonication in a very reproducible way. KW - Crystal growth KW - Thermodynamic modeling KW - Chemical vapor transport KW - 2D layered compounds KW - Nanocrystals Y1 - 2018 UR - https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/nr/c8nr04667k#!divAbstract U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/C8NR04667K SN - 2040-3372 VL - 10 IS - 40 SP - 19014 EP - 19022 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Grönke, Martin A1 - Buschbeck, Benjamin A1 - Schmidt, Peer A1 - Valldor, Martin A1 - Oswald, Steffen A1 - Hao, Qi A1 - Lubk, Axel A1 - Wolf, Daniel A1 - Steiner, Udo A1 - Büchner, Bernd A1 - Hampel, Silke T1 - Chromium Trihalides CrX₃(X = Cl, Br, I): Direct Deposition of Micro‐ and Nanosheets on Substrates by Chemical Vapor Transport T2 - Advanced Materials Interfaces N2 - The experimental observation of intrinsic ferromagnetism in single layered chromium trihalides CrX₃ (X = Cl, Br, I) has gained outstanding attention recently due to their possible implementation in spintronic devices. However, the reproducible preparation of highly crystalline chromium(III) halide nanolayers without stacking faults is still an experimental challenge. As chromium trihalides consist of adjacent layers with weak interlayer coupling, the preparation of ultrathin CrX₃ nanosheets directly on substrates via vapor transport proves as an advantageous synthesis technique. It is demonstrated that vapor growth of ultrathin highly crystalline CrX₃ micro‐ and nanosheets succeeds directly on yttrium stabilized zirconia substrates in a one‐step process via chemical vapor transport (CVT) in temperature gradients of 100 K (600°C → 500°C for CrCl₃ and 650°C → 550°C for CrBr₃ or CrI₃) without a need for subsequent delamination. Due to simulation results, optimization of synthesis conditions is realized and phase pure CrX₃ nanosheets with thicknesses ≤25 nm are obtained via short term CVT. The nanosheets morphology, crystallinity, and phase purity are analyzed by several techniques, including microscopy, diffraction, and spectroscopy. Furthermore, a potential subsequent delamination technique is demonstrated to give fast access to CrX₃ monolayers using the example of CrCl₃ . KW - 2D layered compounds KW - Crystal growth KW - Chemical vapor transport KW - Halides KW - Nanocrystals KW - Thermodynamic modeling Y1 - 2019 UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/admi.201901410 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.201901410 SN - 2196-7350 VL - 6 IS - 24 ER -