HOWARD1	Dissolution of Single Layer Black Phosphorous
Type	Experimental
#students	2
Orientation	Why is the scientific problem of interest at all? The isolation of graphene from graphite sparked a 2D nanomaterials revolution. These 2D nanosheets often have enhanced properties compared with their bulk counterparts, have very high surfaces areas, can be imbedded into other materials to form functional composites, and constructed into nanoscale devices. These materials thus have the potential to play an enormous role in the future industries of IT, healthcare and energy generation and storage. Their study and isolation is therefore a very hot topic.
How	How is the research going to shed light on the given problem? An exciting recent addition to the emerging family of 2D materials is single layer black phosphorous or phosphorene. Unlike graphene, phosphorene is a semiconductor with excellent transport properties suggesting applications in ultrafast nanotransistors. In this project, we aim to establish novel and efficient methods for exfoliating black phosphorous into the first solutions or inks of 2D layers of phosphorene. Such solutions are highly desirable because they can be used to scalably manipulate the phosphorene into films (e.g. by inkjet printing) or composites [see ref 1]
What	What is the specific thing that the student will do, and how does it fit inside the overall project? The student will attempt a variety of novel routes for dissolving layers of black phosphorous and then characterise the solutions (and nanosheets dropped from the solutions) using experimental techniques such as X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, UV/Vis absorption, and Raman Scattering.
Special Knowledge	3^rd Year Solid State Physics
Supervisor	Dr Chris Howard c.howard@ucl.ac.uk
References (optional)	[1] Liquid Exfoliation of Layered Materials. Science (2013), 340, 1226419