@article{b4695578620e4660bb4a8b72c57c4475,
title = "Molybdenum Chloride Nanostructures with Giant Lattice Distortions Intercalated into Bilayer Graphene",
abstract = "The nanospace of the van der Waals (vdW) gap between structural units of two-dimensional (2D) materials serves as a platform for growing unusual 2D systems through intercalation and studying their properties. Various kinds of metal chlorides have previously been intercalated for tuning the properties of host layered materials, but the atomic structure of the intercalants remains still unidentified. In this study, we investigate the atomic structural transformation of molybdenum(V) chloride (MoCl5) after intercalation into bilayer graphene (BLG). Using scanning transmission electron microscopy, we found that the intercalated material represents MoCl3 networks, MoCl2 chains, and Mo5Cl10 rings. Giant lattice distortions and frequent structural transitions occur in the 2D MoClx that have never been observed in metal chloride systems. The trend of symmetric to nonsymmetric structural transformations can cause additional charge transfer from BLG to the intercalated MoClx, as suggested by our density functional theory calculations. Our study deepens the understanding of the behavior of matter in the confined space of the vdW gap in BLG and provides hints at a more efficient tuning of material properties by intercalation for potential applications, including transparent conductive films, optoelectronics, and energy storage.",
keywords = "EELS, graphene intercalation, molybdenum chloride, nanostructure, STEM",
author = "Qiunan Liu and Lin, {Yung Chang} and Silvan Kretschmer and Mahdi Ghorbani-Asl and Pablo Sol{\'i}s-Fern{\'a}ndez and Siao, {Ming Deng} and Chiu, {Po Wen} and Hiroki Ago and Krasheninnikov, {Arkady V.} and Kazu Suenaga",
note = "Funding Information: This work was financially supported by the JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas “Science of 2.5 Dimensional Materials: Paradigm Shift of Materials Science Toward Future Social Innovation” (grant numbers 21H05232, 21H05233, 21H05235, 2H05478), the JST-CREST program (JPMJCR20B1, JMJCR20B5, JPMJCR1993), the JSPS A3 Foresight Program, JSPS-KAKENHI (22F22358, 18H03864, and 23K18878), and the German Research Foundation (DFG; project KR 4866/8-1 and the collaborative research center “Chemistry of Synthetic 2D Materials” CRC-1415-417590517). Generous CPU time grants from the Technical University of Dresden computing cluster (TAURUS) and Gauss Centre for Supercomputing e.V. ( www.gauss-centre.eu ), Supercomputer HAWK at H{\"o}chstleistungsrechenzentrum Stuttgart ( www.hlrs.de ), are greatly appreciated. M.D.S. and P.W.C. acknowledge to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Taiwan Grants MOST 109-2124-M-007-002-MY3, MOST 109-2112-M-007-027-MY3, MOST 106-2628-M-007-003-MY3, and MOST 109-2124-M-006-001 as well as Academia Sinica (AS) Grant AS-TP-106-A07. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 American Chemical Society.",
year = "2023",
month = dec,
day = "12",
doi = "10.1021/acsnano.3c06958",
language = "English",
volume = "17",
pages = "23659--23670",
journal = "ACS Nano",
issn = "1936-0851",
publisher = "American Chemical Society",
number = "23",
}