Vertical 2D Heterostructures

Graphene's legacy has become an integral part of today's condensed matter science and has equipped a whole generation of scientists with an armory of concepts and techniques that open up new perspectives for the postgraphene area. In particular, the judicious combination of 2D building blocks into vertical heterostructures has recently been identified as a promising route to rationally engineer complex multilayer systems and artificial solids with intriguing properties. The present review highlights recent developments in the rapidly emerging field of 2D nanoarchitectonics from a materials chemistry perspective, with a focus on the types of heterostructures available, their assembly strategies, and their emerging properties. This overview is intended to bridge the gap between two major—yet largely disjunct—developments in 2D heterostructures, which are firmly rooted in solid-state chemistry or physics. Although the underlying types of heterostructures differ with respect to their dimensions, layer alignment, and interfacial quality, there is common ground, and future synergies between the various assembly strategies are to be expected.