Preparation of new layered and 2D materials with basic science and energy applications

The past fifty years has seen remarkable strides in chemists’ abilities to prepare materials, which has led to key advances from the silicon revolution to high performance turbines and battery technology. Recently, layered and two dimensional materials have come to prominence with a wide range of applications in batteries, sensors, photovoltaics, catalytic processes, and energy transport. Despite the existence of numerous preparative methods to concoct these materials, compared to other sub-fields of chemistry, existing synthetic methodologies and formal method development are in their infancy. In this talk, I will present some of our current efforts into understanding the reaction mechanisms and expanding the reaction scope of classic solid-state transformations in layered materials, with a particular emphasis on how control of the structure and electron count dictates the resulting chemical and physical properties. Examples will be drawn from our efforts in preparing higher performance superconductors useful in sensors and energy storage.