Electronic properties and circuit applications of networks of electrochemically exfoliated 2D nanosheets
- Tian Carey
- Kevin Synnatschke
- Goutam Ghosh
- Luca Anzi
- Eoin Caffrey
- Emmet Coleman
- Changpeng Lin
- Anthony Dawson
- Shixin Liu
- Rebekah Wells
- Mark McCrystall
- Jan Plutnar
- Iva Plutnarová
- Joseph Neilson
- Nicola Marzari
- Laurens D. A. Siebbeles
- Roman Sordan
- Zdenek Sofer
- Jonathan N. Coleman
2025-10-10
High aspect-ratio 2D materials are promising for solution-processed electronics, yet the factors controlling exfoliation remain unclear and relatively few solution-processed networks have been electrically characterized. Here we combine theory and experiment to show that electrochemical exfoliation of layered crystals with sufficient stiffness-anisotropy (in-plane/out-of-plane Young’s modulus ratio >1.7) yields high aspect-ratio nanosheets with intrinsic mobilities μ NS = 20–75 cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹ across transition metal dichalcogenides and related alloys. Impedance spectroscopy indicates that solution-deposited networks can achieve junction-to-nanosheet resistance ratios (R J /R NS ) as low as ~3, supporting theoretical predictions that μ NS / μ Net = R J /R NS + 1 and suggesting that further reductions in R J will increase μ Net toward the nanosheet limit ( μ NS ). These networks display n-type, p-type, and ambipolar behaviour, with on/off ratios up to 10⁵ and mobilities μ Net = 13 cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹. Here, we show that such high-performing 2D materials enable functional solution-processed circuits, including inverters, buffers, a 4-bit digital-to-analog converter, and a circuit capable of encoding and decoding 7-bit ASCII messages.