A Novel Liquid-Liquid Interface Deposition Method for the Production of Thin Films and van der Waals Heterostructures of Two-Dimensional Solids

Abstract

Thin films and van der Waals heterostructures derived from two-dimensional solids offer enormous potential for a broad range of novel, energy efficient devices, however, their use is currently hampered by slow, labor-intensive fabrication methods often employing hazardous chemicals. We demonstrate a novel technique for rapid, low-cost and environmentally-friendly production of ultra-thin films and van der Waals heterostructures of two-dimensional solids from aqueous surfactant-stabilized suspensions, which we term `Liquid Interface Deposition'. Films are produced by the transfer of platelets of two-dimensional materials assembled at the interface between two immiscible liquids (water and dicholoromethane), at which surfactants which stabilize the two-dimensional materials in the aqueous phase are `stripped' from the platelets due to preferential partitioning of the surfactant to the non-aqeuous phase. The approach is generic to two-dimensional materials which can be stabilized in aqueous suspension by a surfactant and the resulting films can then be transferred to an arbitrary substrate by a range of approaches. The generic applicability of this technique is demonstrated through production of thin films on a variety of substrates, deposition of transparent, highly conductive, graphene films with conductivities between $7.7 \times 10^{3} - 1.26\times 10^{5}~\textrm{S m}^{-1}$ and transmittances of 55-75%, and by the fabrication of van der Waals heterostructures of MoS$_2$, WS$_2$, and few-layer graphene.