Synthesis and characterization of carbide nanosheets by a template-confined reaction

Titanium carbide (TiC) and niobium carbide (NbC) nanosheets were synthesized by reacting few-layer graphene (FLG) with volatile titanium and niobium iodides, respectively. The successful synthesis was confirmed by XRD, SEM, TEM, and Raman analyses. The synthesized TiC and NbC nanosheets were polycrystalline, with average crystallite sizes of 8 and 12 nm, respectively. The results suggested that FLG acted as the template to confine the reaction and defined the overall morphology of the synthesized nanosheets. This method could be extended to synthesize a variety of other carbide nanosheets.