Abstract
Intercalation of atoms, ions and molecules is a powerful tool for altering or tuning the properties — interlayer interactions, in-plane bonding configurations, Fermi-level energies, electronic band structures and spin–orbit coupling — of 2D materials. Intercalation can induce property changes in materials related to photonics, electronics, optoelectronics, thermoelectricity, magnetism, catalysis and energy storage, unlocking or improving the potential of 2D materials in present and future applications. In situ imaging and spectroscopy technologies are used to visualize and trace intercalation processes. These techniques provide the opportunity for deciphering important and often elusive intercalation dynamics, chemomechanics and mechanisms, such as the intercalation pathways, reversibility, uniformity and speed. In this Review, we discuss intercalation in 2D materials, beginning with a brief introduction of the intercalation strategies, then we look into the atomic and intrinsic effects of intercalation, followed by an overview of their in situ studies, and finally provide our outlook.
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Acknowledgements
Z.Z. thanks the General Research Fund (GRF) support from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China [Project No. CityU11308923], the Basic Research Project from Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee in Shenzhen, China [No. JCYJ20210324134012034], the Applied Research Grant of City University of Hong Kong (Project No. 9667247) and Chow Sang Sang Group Research Fund of City University of Hong Kong (Project No. 9229123) for funding support. Z.Z. is also thankful for the funding provided by the Seed Collaborative Research Fund Scheme of State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, which receives research funding from the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) of the Hong Kong SAR Government. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication do not reflect the views of the Hong Kong SAR Government or the ITC. Q.L. is thankful for a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant and an Alberta Innovates Advance Program–NSERC Alliance Grant. J.G. thanks the Advanced Light Source-U.S. DOE Office of Science User Facility under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.
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Z.Z. proposed the topic of the Review. R.Y., L.M., J.L. and Z.Z. co-wrote the manuscript. R.Y., L.M. and Z.L. contributed equally to this work. All authors contributed to the revisions and edits of the manuscript.
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Yang, R., Mei, L., Lin, Z. et al. Intercalation in 2D materials and in situ studies. Nat Rev Chem (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-024-00605-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-024-00605-2
