Research Projects

Layered materials consist of strong covalent bonding in the layer and weak van der Waals force of attraction between the layers. Due to this anisotropic bonding, these materials provide opportunities to integrate dissimilar materials and forming interfaces where distinct properties and phenomena emerge. Two distinct kinds of integration can be envisaged leading the formation of either lateral or vertical heterostructures. It has been shown in the literature that such heterostructures inherit features from the individual counterparts and often show emergent properties as a result of heterostructuring.1 Properties of these hybrid nanostructures are greatly influenced by interface chemistry and often is the primary reason behind the improved performance. While there have been extensive studies in literature demonstrating the use of heterostructures for various applications, there is a distinct lack of atomic-level characterization of these interfaces and defects in these layered material hybrids due to the challenges involved in direct imaging of the defects. In this proposal, we aim to carry out ion exchange reactions to synthesize different types of hybrid nanostructures and employ state-of-the-art aberration corrected electron microscopy to carry out atomic scale investigation of hybrid nanostructures and their interfaces that would provide deep insights into the defects and the attendant mechanisms of phase transformation in layered materials.