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.

Perforated polygonal cobalt oxide (Co3O4) is synthesized using electrospinning and a hydrothermal methodfollowed by the removal of a carbon nanofiber (CNF) template. To investigate their formation mechanism, thermogravi-metric analysis, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are examined. To obtain the optimum condition of perforated polygonal Co3O4, we pre-pare three different weight ratios of the Co precursor and the CNF template: sample A (Co precursor:CNF template-10:1), sample B (Co precursor:CNF template-3.2:1), and sample C (Co precursor:CNF template-2:1). Among them, sam-ple A exhibits the perforated polygonal Co3O4 with a thin carbon layer (5.7-6.2 nm) owing to the removal of CNF tem-plate. However, sample B and sample C synthesized perforated round Co3O4 and destroyed Co3O4 powders, respectively,due to a decreased amount of Co precursor. The increased amount of the CNF template prevents the formation of polygonalCo3O4. For sample A, the optimized weight ratio of the Co precursor and CNF template may be related to the suc-cessful formation of perforated polygonal Co3O4. Thus, perforated polygonal Co3O4 can be applied to electrode materialsof energy storage devices such as lithium ion batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells.