High shear exfoliation of 2D gallium oxide sheets from centrifugally derived thin films of liquid gallium.

A diversity of two-dimensional nanomaterials has recently emerged with recent attention turning to the post-transition metal elements, in particular material derived from liquid metals and eutectic melts below 330 °C where processing is more flexible and in the temperature regime suitable for industry. This has been explored for liquid gallium using an angled vortex fluidic device (VFD) to fabricate ultrathin gallium oxide (GaO) sheets under continuous flow conditions. We have established the nanosheets to form highly insulating material and have electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution, with a Tafel slope of 39 mV dec revealing promoting effects of the surface oxidation (passivation layer).