Versatile solution-processed synthesis of two-dimensional ultrathin metal chalcogenides following Frank-van der Merwe growth.

Two-dimensional (2D) ultrathin metal chalcogenides represent a class of promising materials for various applications thanks to attractive physicochemical properties. However, a reliable pathway for fabricating ultrathin metal chalcogenides nanosheets, regardless of the bulk crystals of their 3D counterparts, still remains challenge. Herein, we present a versatile solution-processed template synthesis strategy, in which a single molecular-level precursor annealing into ultrathin single-crystal nanosheets at the aid of lattice-matching templates, following the Frank-van der Merwe growth mode, and featuring high-quality, low-cost, scalability and processability. Follow this strategy, Sb2S3, MoS2 and ZnS nanosheets are successfully prepared as the representatives for the materials whose bulk counterparts possessing 1D, 2D and 3D crystal structure respectively, and growth mechanism is confirmed by crystal mode analysis. As a proof-of-concept application, MoS2 and Sb2S3 nanosheets are applied to gas sensor and flexible photodetector respectively, which all exhibit excellent performance. The method can also be easily extended to other ultrathin nanosheets like single metal, metal oxide, metal nitride and heterostructure.