A Selective Cation Replacement Strategy for the Growth of 2D Magnetic Cr₂Te₃ Nanosheets by CVD

Cr 2 Te 3 has recently emerged as a new class of two-dimensional (2D) materials due to its inherent long-range ferromagnetic order. Here, we report the synthesis of 2D Cr 2 Te 3 nanosheets from a GeTe precursor by a cation replacement reaction. During the reaction, Cr ions preferentially bind to Te ions and replace Ge along the c -axis of the lattice. When Cr–Te bonds are formed, the binding energy is reduced due to the lower electronegativity of Cr. After the Ge atoms are substituted by Cr atoms, we successfully synthesized Cr 2 Te 3 instead of CrGeTe 3 . Cr 2 Te 3 nanosheets show a triangular structure with a lateral size of up to 10 μm and a thickness of about 2.2 nm. The structure of Cr 2 Te 3 nanosheets was confirmed by XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and HRTEM. Cr 2 Te 3 nanosheets exhibit robust magnetic behavior with a Curie temperature ( T C ) of about 161 K. This cation replacement strategy promotes the development of Cr 2 Te 3 and paves an effective way to fabricate 2D magnetic materials.