Heterostructures in two-dimensional colloidal metal chalcogenides: Synthetic fundamentals and applications

As a new class of two-dimensional materials, two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures constructed from metal chalcogenides (MCs) have been gaining tremendous attention due to their unprecedented physical and chemical phenomena, mainly originated from their distinct structural features such as composition, architecture type, spatial arrangement of each component, crystal structure, exposed facet and interface, dimensionality in their heterostructures. Towards the realization of practical applications, synthetic approaches need a rational design with a variety of architecture types including laterally-combined, vertically-aligned, and conformally-coated 2D MC heterostructures. Among various synthetic routes, solution-based synthesis is thought of as an alternative to fabrication through high-cost setups since it can control those structural features in a cheap fashion. This review presents recent progress on solution-based synthesis to produce various 2D MC heterostructures with a focus on the synthetic fundamentals in terms of thermodynamic and kinetic aspects related to the growth mechanism. Four different synthetic approaches are reviewed: seeded growth, cation exchange reaction, colloidal atomic layer deposition, direct synthesis including one-step process and modified electrochemical method. We also provide some representative applications of 2D MC heterostructures and their hybrid composites in various fields including optoelectronics, thermoelectrics, catalysis, and battery. Finally, we offer an insight into challenges and future directions in a synthetic improvement of 2D MC heterostructures.