High-Yield and Low-Cost Synthesis of Monolayer α-Zirconium Phosphate Nanosheets Using 2-Aminoethanol as the Exfoliation Agent

Zirconium phosphate (α-ZrP) nanosheets are widely used as polymer fillers, catalysts, and structural color materials. However, hydrolytic decomposition of the nanosheets during the synthesis process has been a problem for large-scale production at low cost. In this study, we demonstrated that a high-quality α-ZrP nanosheet is obtained in high yield without a costly cooling process by using 2-aminoethanol (OH-EtA) as the exfoliating agent instead of conventional tetrabutylammonium hydroxide. The yields of the monolayer α-ZrP nanosheets and hydrolysis rate were quantitatively evaluated, and the condition to obtain α-ZrP nanosheets was optimized. Furthermore, post-treatments (neutralization and desalting) of the as-prepared nanosheet dispersions were found to be effective in increasing the storage stability of the nanosheets.