A Tutorial on Instrumental Parameters in Pulsed Force Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy.

For the creation of smaller and smaller electrical devices and fundamental studies, Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) offers a technique that measures the surface potential with nanometer lateral resolution and allows for a more precise understanding of properties such as the work function, the localization of charges and the doping of materials. Despite its obvious potential, the complexity of its implementation is currently a bottleneck for its extensive application. Here, we introduce a step-by-step overview of the different experimental parameters that need to be controlled in PF-KPFM to ensure their useful effect on the measured contact potential difference.

Sonication-assisted liquid phase exfoliation of two-dimensional CrTe under inert conditions.

Liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) has been used for the successful fabrication of nanosheets from a large number of van der Waals materials. While this allows to study fundamental changes of material properties' associated with reduced dimensions, it also changes the chemistry of many materials due to a significant increase of the effective surface area, often accompanied with enhanced reactivity and accelerated oxidation. To prevent material decomposition, LPE and processing in inert atmosphere have been developed, which enables the preparation of pristine nanomaterials, and to systematically study compositional changes over time for different storage conditions.

Production of Quasi-2D Platelets of Nonlayered Iron Pyrite (FeS) by Liquid-Phase Exfoliation for High Performance Battery Electrodes.

Over the past 15 years, two-dimensional (2D) materials have been studied and exploited for many applications. In many cases, 2D materials are formed by the exfoliation of layered crystals such as transition-metal disulfides. However, it has recently become clear that it is possible to exfoliate nonlayered materials so long as they have a nonisotropic bonding arrangement.