Techniques for the exfoliation of layered compounds are widely used to fabricate nanometer-thick materials, such as oxides, niobates, chalcogenides, phosphates, and graphene. Although a variety of nanosheets have been synthesized, there have been few reports on silicon nanosheets (Si-NSs).

Hideyuki Nakano, Toyota Central R&D Laboratories, Aichi, Japan, and colleagues demonstrate a successful method for the synthesis of Si-NSs incorporating different functional groups. The alkyl-modified crystalline Si-NSs maintain the crystal structure of a Si(111) plane. The dangling silicon bond is stabilized by capping with the alkyl group.

Because this new silicon structure has the surface bonded to alkyl groups, uniform dispersion in organic solvents is possible. Therefore, polycrystalline silicon films for new types of sensors or other novel nanostructured devices could be prepared on any substrates by spin-coating of the sheet suspension at close to room temperature.

• Preparation of Alkyl-Modified Silicon Nanosheets by Hydrosilylation of Layered Polysilane (Si₆H₆),
  Hideyuki Nakano, Mitsuru Nakano, Koji Nakanishi, Daiki Tanaka, Yusuke Sugiyama, Takashi Ikuno, Hirotaka Okamoto, Toshiaki Ohta,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012.
  DOI: 10.1021/ja212086n