Ultrathin Two‐dimensional Layered Composite Carbosilicates from in situ Unzipped Carbon Nanotubes and Exfoliated Bulk Silica

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2024-02, Vol.63 (7), p.e202318043-n/a
• Main Authors: Ding, Yuxiao, Liu, Yumeng, Klyushin, Alexander Y., Zhang, Liyun, Han, Gengxu, Liu, Zigeng, Li, Jianying, Zhang, Bingsen, Gao, Kang, Li, Wei, Eichel, Rüdiger‐A., Sun, Xiaoyan, Qiao, Zhen‐An, Heumann, Saskia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bonding agents; Carbon; Carbon nanotubes; Carbosilicate; Composite materials; Functional materials; Graphene; Graphene Nanoribbon; Iron; Laminates; Multilayers; Nanocarbon; Nanotechnology; Nanotubes; Silica; Silica glass; Silicate; Silicon dioxide; Transition metals; Ultrathin 2D Material
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202318043

A key task in today's inorganic synthetic chemistry is to develop effective reactions, routes, and associated techniques aiming to create new functional materials with specifically desired multilevel structures and properties. Herein, we report an ultrathin two‐dimensional layered composite of graphene ribbon and silicate via a simple and scalable one‐pot reaction, which leads to the creation of a novel carbon‐metal‐silicate hybrid family: carbosilicate. The graphene ribbon is in situ formed by unzipping carbon nanotubes, while the ultrathin silicate is in situ obtained from bulk silica or commercial glass; transition metals (Fe or Ni) oxidized by water act as bridging agent, covalently bonding the two structures. The unprecedented structure combines the superior properties of the silicate and the nanocarbon, which triggers some specific novel properties. All processes during synthesis are complementary to each other. The associated synergistic chemistry could stimulate the discovery of a large class of more interesting, functionalized structures and materials. Via unzipping and zipping processes, an ultrathin two‐dimensional layered carbosilicate is obtained by hydrothermal treatment. In a one‐pot reaction, CNT and bulk silica are unzipped by the reaction of iron and water, followed by iron zipping the unzipped species to form the carbosilicate. The unprecedent phenomenon brings us new insight on synergistic chemistry, stimulating the discovery of new structures and materials.