Preparation of ultrathin two-dimensional CaV4O9 nanosheets: A new inorganic graphene-like material

As a new inorganic graphene-like material, ultrathin nanosheets of ternary compound calcium vanadate (CaV4O9) have been reported for the first time. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) result reveals that the used ultrasonication waves trigger the arrangements and enhance the c axis orientation in the formation of high-quality two-dimensional nanosheets. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman results confirm that ultrathin nanosheets have atomic thickness and maintain the integrity of the plane structure without obvious deformations. These CaV4O9 ultrathin nanosheets will provide an ideal two-dimensional material platform to investigate their new potential electronic, magnetic and optical behavior. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.