Cutting gallium oxide nanoribbons into ultrathin nanoplates

The wet-chemical synthesis of gallium oxide (Ga₂0₃) nanoribbons and their cutting into ultra-thin nanoplates having a single-unit cell thickness by treatment with a sulfur solution was reported. The quality of the prepared gallium oxide gallium sulfide nanoplates was quite dependent on the concentration of the sulfur solution used. The cutting of the gallium oxide nanoribbons into nanoplates was observed, maintaining the gallium oxide as main material. Considering that the obtained gallium oxide nanoribbons have an ultrathin thickness, one can expect the nanoribbons to be easily sliced via an appropriate chemical reaction that would be partially formed and there would be an inevitable lattice mismatch between gallium oxide and gallium sulfide. The results reported that gallium oxide nanomaterials, including nanoribbons, have many inevitable defects and oxygen vacancies within their structure.