Thin Film Materials

2D covalent materials have usually a drawback in terms of processability, as they are often insoluble or hardly dispersible. This significantly hinders their application as thin films since they cannot be prepared by common thin film preparation methods such as spin coating.  Therefore, in our group we explore the thin film synthesis of 2D covalent materials by means of chemical vapor deposition in order to achieve highly homogeneous and crack-free thin films over large surfaces.

In our group, we recently developed methods for the synthesis of CN and BCN thin films in a one-step bottom-up approach via chemical vapor deposition. This technique enables the homogenous deposition of nanometer-sized thin films on target substrates regardless of their shape. This enables us to overcome restrictions of other commonly used techniques for thin film preparation, such as spin coating and razor blading, which would require flat surfaces.

Our current aim is to generate novel thin film materials for improved SEI layers. The flexibility of the CVD method enables the fine tuning of chemical and electronic properties, providing a novel dimension to 2D covalent materials with advanced properties.

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