Nanowires of KP15 produced by liquid exfoliation

Abstract

We report the liquid exfoliation of an anisotropic layered material: KP15 to form KP15 nanowires with thicknesses up to a few nanometers. Meanwhile, KP15 nanowire is the first kind of nanowire that can be prepared by liquid exfoliation. Moreover, sections of the KP15 nanowires are irregular and the longitudinal direction of the KP15 nanowire is along the direction of the phosphorus tube. Those results may indicate that in-plane phosphorus tubes can also be separated during exfoliation, making the preparation of a few tubes of KP15 possible. That could provide a basis for further low dimensional physics research.