Novel Anticounterfeiting Solution Based on 2D Materials Produced by Electrochemical Exfoliation

This work demonstrates the use of 2D materials (2DMs) as identification tags by exploiting their unique shape. Electrochemical exfoliation enables the production of large quantities of optically accessible 2DMs with diverse morphology and large lateral sizes up to 20 µm. Image processing techniques are used to facilitate shape identification and matching within a dataset of 500 unique nanosheets. Rotational and translation invariant shape matching with no false positive matches between over 100 000 unique shape pairings is shown. The approach enables individual nanosheets to be deposited onto products, such as packaging of luxury goods, pharmaceuticals, banknotes, etc., as a unique seal of authenticity. Quick inspection of the nanoscale tag by optical microscopy allows the shape to be compared against the genuine dataset, enabling unique identification. The optical features of 2D materials, such as Raman and/or photoluminescence signals can be used as an additional chemical fingerprint, making the anticounterfeiting solution very robust. 2D nanotags with unique shape and chemical fingerprint can be produced from layered materials by electrochemical exfoliation. Manufacturers can tag products with a single nanotag and record and store its unique properties. Consumers can record the shape of their products nanotag by optical microscopy and check product authenticity by matching its shape with a genuine record.