Synthesis of Ge-based nanosheet bundles using calcium germanides as templates in IP6 aqueous solution

Ge-based nanosheet bundles were synthesized by de-intercalating Ca atoms from the lattice of CaGe2 and Ca-Germanide (synthesized and commercially available) using inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) acid, with and without ultrasonication assistance. Ca-Germanides were synthesized via the thermal annealing and the mechanical alloying (MA) processes. Multiple binary phases of Ca–Ge system with low X-ray diffraction (XRD) intensities were obtained after the MA operation along with high XRD intensity elemental Ge phases, whereas with the thermal annealing process yielded phase transformation from elemental Ge to mixed binary mixture of Ca–Ge system. The obtained Ge-based nanosheet bundles were subjected phase and morphological characterization. It revealed that CaGe2 underwent phase transformation after IP6 treatment and a layered morphology was obtained. This paper describes a simplistic approach to synthesize Ge-based nanosheets using Ca-Germanide crystals as templates. A detailed morphological and phase evolution of the template Ca-Germanide and exfoliated Ge-based nanosheet bundles have been presented in this work.