General synthesis of large-area flexible bi-atomic subnano thin lanthanide oxide nanoscrolls

Owing to the intrinsic surface charge disturbance effect, the surface ripple or scrolling phenomenon has been noticed in the synthesis of many ultrathin nanomaterials. However, the precise synthesis and control of such subtle nanostructures are still highly challenging, indicating the untapped potential in the future nano energy systems. In this work, a simple but robust colloidal chemistry method is established to synthesize the ultrathin lanthanide oxide nanoscrolls, which achieves the atomically-thin thickness with scrolled edges for the first time. Detailed mechanism studies confirm that the scrolling behavior of nanoscrolls is initiated by surface charge perturbance induced by the adsorption of bromoalkyl group in the surfactant 3-bromopropyl trimethylammonium bromide. More importantly, experiments demonstrate the reversible and controllable scrolling of the subnano thin lanthanide nanoscrolls. As proof of the actual application, the ultrathin lanthanide oxide nanoscroll/carbon nanotube film has been employed for the lithium-sulfur battery as the interlayer, which demonstrated excellent electrochemical performances. Our method is broadly applicable for the high-yield production of novel inorganic ultrathin nanostructures with great potential for applications in energy systems.