Transition metal oxides formed by a single or heterogeneous combination of transition metal ions and oxygen ions have various types of crystal structures, which can be classified as layered structures and non-layered structures. With non-layered structures, it is difficult to realize a two-dimensional structure using conventional synthesis methods. In this study, we report the synthesis of cobalt oxide into wafer-scale nanosheets using a surfactant-assisted method. A monolayer of ionized surfactant at the water-air interface acts as a flexible template for direct cobalt oxide crystallization below. The nanosheets synthesized on the water surface can be easily transferred to an arbitrary substrate. In addition, the synthesizing morphological and crystal structures of the nanosheets were analyzed according to the reaction temperatures. The electrochemical properties of the synthesized nanosheets were also measured at each temperature. The nanosheets synthesized at 70 °C exhibited higher catalytic properties for the oxygen evolution reaction than those synthesized at other temperatures. This work suggests the possibility of changing material performance by adjusting synthesis temperature when synthesizing 2D nanomaterials using a wide range of functional oxides, resulting in improved physical properties.

ZnO nanosheets have been used for many devices and antibacterial materials with wide bandgap and high crystallinity. Among the many methods for synthesizing ZnO nanostructures, we report the synthesis of ZnO/Zn(OH)2 nanosheets using the ionic layer epitaxy method, which is a newly-developed bottom-up technique that allows the shape and thickness of ZnO/Zn(OH)2 nanosheets to be controlled by temperature and time of synthesis. Results were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The physical and chemical information and structural characteristics of ZnO/ Zn(OH)2 nanosheets were compared by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction patterns after various posttreatment processes. The crystallinity of the ZnO/Zn(OH)2 nanosheets was confirmed using scanning transmission electron microscopy. This study presents details of the control of the size and thickness of synthesized ZnO/Zn(OH)2 nanosheets with atomic layers.